


Justin Baby

by bjfic_archivist



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Canon, Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-08-04
Updated: 2003-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-27 10:31:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12079278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bjfic_archivist/pseuds/bjfic_archivist
Summary: Melanie asks Justin to be the father of her child instead of Michael and Brian and Justin are brought back together in a different way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from IrishCaelan, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Brian_Justin_Fanfiction_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in September 2017. I posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjfic/profile).

Mel and Linds were at the diner, looking over the prospective donors for their new baby. After Mel had gotten surgery for her endometriosis and decided that she would carry their next child, she also eventually made the decision that Brian was not the person she wanted as the father of her child. This was the reason Lindsey had her list of friends at hand, ready to see who would be the best candidate. 

“I don’t see why we can’t just get a genius from the sperm bank,” Mel sighed looking over at the people in the diner.

“Mel, do you really want our baby to not even know its father? I mean, look at Gus. Brian is wonderful with Gus,” Lindsey said.

“Yeah like Brian even stops by to see his son anymore,” Melanie retorted.

“Mel, you know how busy Brian is,” Lindsey said, standing up for Brian. “But Brian has always been there to write a check…”

“Yeah, yeah I know. He’s willing to write a check and he saved our wedding from disaster. But that doesn’t qualify him as a good father and he certainly isn’t going to be the father of my child. Especially after that stunt he pulled at the GLC fundraiser,” Melanie said.

“Mel, if we were to get a donor, we wouldn’t know what kind of a person he was either. All we would know are some physical characteristics and maybe what kind of occupation that person has. We wouldn’t know them personally and that’s the reason you don’t want Brian as the father, because of his personality,” Lindsey said.

“You mean his fuck-everything-that-moves attitude?” Melanie said.

“Mel,” Lindsey said in a chiding tone.

“Fine, fine, I guess you’re right. So who should we start with first?” Melanie asked, turning around in her stool so she faced the constant stream of people entering the diner.

Just then, Ben walked into the diner and went over to hug Michael.

“Ben’s brainy and brawny,” Lindsey said, scrutinizing the couple.

Melanie replied, “I’d say he’s just about perfect except for one thing.”

Lindsey shook her head, realizing she had forgotten Ben had HIV. “Right,” she said as she crossed his name off the list.

Mel and Linds looked over at the booth where Ted and Emmett were sitting. Watching Ted eating, Lindsey said, “There’s always Ted.”

Mel sighed and said, “Good old reliable Teddy.”

Knowing that Mel was not interested, Lindsey crossed his name off the list as well.

“Emmett?” Lindsey asked, looking over at the newly happy couple playing with their food. Mel gave Linds a smirk and Lindsey shook her head, realizing that someone who couldn’t even stick with the same hair conditioner for a week might not be the best father material.

Lindsey allowed herself and Melanie a short pause to dwell on it over their coffee before proceeding to the last two names on the list. Looking over at the booth where Brian had come in with his nephew, Lindsey saw Michael handling John pretty well.

“Wasn’t that sweet of Michael?” Lindsey said, after Michael had invited John to his comic book store.

“Yeah, he’s a real menshe,” Melanie said.

Lindsey looked over at Melanie and said, “What about him as the father?”

Melanie thought long and hard before responding. Finally, she said, “Michael is awfully sweet and has a good heart, but I think he’s too much of a risk living with Ben.”

“What do you mean?” Lindsey said.

“Well, I mean I hope nothing ever happens, but what if by chance a condom breaks and he gets HIV?” Melanie asked.

“Well anyone we choose would have to be tested,” Lindsey said.

“I don’t mean now,” Melanie said. “I mean later in life. How would our kid respond to that?”

“Mel, that could happen to anyone we choose,” Lindsey said.

“I know, but he is the only one with a partner that has HIV. It’s more likely to happen,” Melanie said.

Lindsey shrugged and said, “Yea, I guess you’re right,” she said, crossing Michael’s name off the list.

Just then, Debbie walked by on her way to serve someone their order.

“Plus,” Melanie said, pointing to Debbie. “We would have to put up with her.”

Lindsey laughed and said, “Yeah, she would probably be over our house every five minutes.”

Melanie nodded.

“Well, that only leaves one person,” Lindsey said.

“Who?” Melanie asked, peeking over at the list curiously.

Lindsey pointed over at Justin, who was wiping off one of the tables.

“Justin?” Melanie said.

“Yes,” Lindsey said. “Look at that bone structure, those adorable seashell ears. And, he’s incredibly talented.”

Melanie replied, “He’s only 19.”

“Isn’t that a plus? Fresh young sperm,” Lindsey said.

Melanie thought for a minute. “I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be kind of like having a baby with a baby?”

Lindsey shook her head. “I don’t think so. Justin is very mature for his age. He’s had a wonderful upbringing, is an accomplished artist, and is very intelligent. Plus, he has a wonderful heart. He is truly caring and loving. If you have all that, who cares about the age?” Lindsey said.

Melanie raised her eyebrows, “Well that’s true,” she said. 

Lindsey pressed on at Melanie’s encouraging reaction. “Plus, look at the way he is with Gus. He’s always willing to baby-sit and he’s so good with him. Gus adores him and I know that Justin loves Gus. Gus considers Justin to be a second father,” Lindsey said.

“Which is good considering the heartless shit his real father is,” Melanie muttered.

“Mel, I know that you and Brian don’t get along, but I wish you would try for the sake of Gus. Gus is getting older and I don’t think it is good of you to put his father down, especially in front of him,” Lindsey said, giving Mel one of her trademark looks of disapproval.

Melanie sighed, “You’re right. I’m sorry. He doesn’t need to hear it coming from my mouth.”

“Right,” Lindsey said. “Now back to Justin. What do you say?”

Melanie looked over at the blonde teenager once more, thinking about how good-looking Justin was. She could recall a time when she once said how she wouldn’t mind doing him herself. He was quite beautiful, intelligent, and talented to boot. A college student with a promising career in front of him once he graduated. Not to mention his incredible child skills he’d already displayed every time he was around Gus…yes he did seem to be the perfect choice.

Mel smiled at Lindsey. “I say we invite him over and ask him.”

Grinning, Lindsey made a circle around Justin’s name on the list.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justin was at home on the couch when Ethan walked in the door.

“Hey,” Ethan said, hanging up his coat.

“Hey,” Justin answered, coming over to give Ethan a kiss. “You’ll never guess what I found out today.”

“What?” Ethan asked disinterestedly.

“Brian is being sued for sexual harassment for molesting his nephew,” Justin said.

“No shit? The guy finally got what he deserved,” Ethan said smugly.

Justin scowled, bristling at Ethan’s reaction. “How can you say that? Brian would never do something like that.”

Ethan looked over at his boyfriend. “Well, he does fuck anything. You said it yourself.”

Justin rolled his eyes and sat back down. He knew he probably shouldn’t bring up Brian in front of Ethan, but this was something big and he wanted Ethan to help him.

“Brian would never fuck his nephew. He hates his family, but not to the point of molesting his own nephew.”

Ethan looked up. “So, how did you find this out?”

“I was at Debbie’s earlier when Detective Horvath came by,” Justin said. “He told Debbie that Brian was in trouble because his nephew accused him of molesting him.”

Ethan chuckled. “Oh, well.”

Justin gave Ethan a glare. “This isn’t funny Ethan. This could get really serious, especially if someone doesn’t do anything about it.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do, so I think we should just forget about it,” Ethan said.

Justin crossed his arms, looking more irritated by the moment. “Sure there is. I’m going to go to his nephew and find out the truth. I was hoping that you would come with me.”

Ethan looked at Justin as if he were insane to think of intervening, which only served to anger Justin more. “It’s his problem Justin, not ours.”

Justin said, “You don’t understand. Brian has always been there to help me. He was there when my father kicked me out, when I was bashed, when I was recovering from the bashing, and now he is still paying for my schooling. I can’t just sit back and not do anything.”

“Uh-huh,” Ethan said annoyingly. 

“I can’t believe you are being this big of baby about it,” Justin said, standing up. “Brian is still my friend and I want to help him.”

Ethan nodded, “Just like a few weeks ago he asked you, out of the many artists he could have used, to draw the poster for Carnival and you said yes. Because you want to help him.

Justin grabbed his coat and walked over to the front door, fully prepared to leave with or without his boyfriend. “Are you coming or not?” he said.

Ethan laughed. “No, I’m not going to help him. He’s not my friend. He can go to jail for all I care.”

“Fine,” Justin said and left the apartment. He was on his way to go find John and give him a piece of his mind.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justin was over at Daphne’s later explaining what happened when he confronted John.

“You should have seen it, Daph. You could tell the kid was lying. Plus, he had the shell bracelet Brian wears with his initials carved on the back, which at first he said he got at the mall,” Justin said.

“So, is Brian going to be ok?” Daphne asked.

“I think so,” Justin said. “Now that Horvath has proof that John was lying, I’m sure the matter will be dropped.”

“Well, that’s good,” Daphne said.

“Yeah, except now Ethan and I are fighting,” Justin said.

 

Daphne looked surprised. “What happened?” 

“He didn’t want me going to help Brian. He thought Brian should lay in his own mess and go to jail. Plus, he thinks I’m always running after Brian,” Justin said.

“I wonder where he got that idea,” Daphne mumbled, averting her eyes.

“Daph, Brian and I are friends…” Justin said, as his cell phone began to ring. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID.

“Oh it’s Mel and Linds,” Justin said before he answered. “They probably want me to babysit Gus.”

Daphne nodded and left the living room, trying to give Justin a little privacy, as he answered the phone.

“Hello?” Justin said.

“Justin hi. It’s Lindsey,” Lindsey said.

“Hey, what’s going on? Do you need me to babysit?” Justin said.

“No, actually, we were hoping that you could come to brunch on Sunday,” Lindsey replied.

Justin thought a minute to make sure he didn’t have any plans. “Oh sure,” Justin said. “I would love to see you guys. Is the rest of the gang coming?”

Lindsey said, “No, we thought it could be just us 3 and you. We haven’t seen you for a while, so we thought we could catch up.”

“Oh ok,” Justin agreed, although he thought that was a little odd. “What time on Sunday?”

“Is 11:00 too early?” Lindsey said.

“No, not at all. I hardly stay up late anymore,” Justin said.

“Ok, so we’ll see you on Sunday then,” Lindsey said.

“Alright, tell Mel and Gus I said hi,” Justin said.

“I will,” Lindsey said. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Justin said as he pressed the end button.

Daphne came out of the kitchen and sat down beside Justin. “So, do you need to leave?”

“No, not right away. Lindsey was just inviting me over to their house for brunch on Sunday,” Justin said.

“That sounds like fun,” Daphne said.

“Yea, Lindsey makes the best food,” he said.

“This coming from the bottomless pit,” she said.

Laughing, Daphne hit Justin in the shoulder. “Is Ethan going with you, then?” she asked.

Justin shook his head. “No, they said they wanted it to be just us 4, including Gus.”

“Oh,” Daphne said. “So I guess Brian won’t be there?”

“No,” Justin said. “Lindsey wouldn’t do that. She and Mel like Ethan. They probably just want to discuss personal things with me or something. See how Ethan’s treating me.”

“Pretty poorly lately. I still can’t believe he said that about Brian,” Daphne said.

Justin laughed. “I think your biased, Daph. You’ve always liked Brian,” Justin said.

“No, it’s called compassion Justin. He needs to have compassion for his fellow man,” Daphne said. “Especially fellow gay man.”

Justin chuckled, “Well, not when his fellow gay man is my ex.”

Daphne shrugged, “As much as I don’t like some people, I would never want them to be put in jail, especially for a crime they didn’t do.”

Justin paused, thinking this over, and then nodded. “You make a good point Daph.” 

Justin looked at his watch. “Well, I better get going,” Justin said, getting up from the sofa. “I still need to go return Brian’s bracelet to him.”

“You’re going over there?” Daphne asked.

“Yeah, Detective Horvath gave it to me to take back to him,” Justin said.

“Oh, ok,” Daphne said, going over to hug her friend. “Well, call me and tell me how it goes.”

After the hug, Justin went to the door. “Ok, I will. Bye, Daph.”

“Bye,” Daphne said as Justin walked out the door. She wondered to herself hoe Ethan would react when he found out about this incident. Not very well, she was willing to bet.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Sunday morning, Justin got up at 9:30 to start getting ready to go over to Mel and Linds. Ethan was still asleep and Justin was glad, knowing he would not have to answer his questions on why he wasn’t invited. Justin didn’t really understand why either, but if Mel and Linds said they wanted it to be just the 4 of them, then that was how it was going to be. He wasn’t going to push for Ethan to be invited. Justin showered and shaved; he always tried to look nice, especially when going to visit someone for something like this. Picking his favorite pair of khakis and a black turtleneck he’s just bought, he dressed quickly and was almost out the door when Ethan awoke

“Justin,” he said sleepily from the bed.

Justin went over to the bed and looked down at Ethan. “Hey, I’m just about to leave.”

“Ok,” Ethan said, yawning. “You’re going to Mel and Linds right?”

“Yeah,” Justin said, leaning down to kiss Ethan on the forehead. “I’ll probably be back around 1:30 or 2:00. I’ll call you.”

“Alright. Bye,” Ethan said, sticking his head under his pillow and going back to sleep.

“Bye,” Justin said, getting his coat and leaving the apartment.

Justin walked down the four flights of stairs and went outside. He headed his way to the bus stop, which would drive him far enough to where he was only about 10 minutes away from Mel and Linds, or the munchers as Brian would affectionately say. 

As he got into the bus, he started to think about Brian. Brian, Brian, Brian... The man invaded his thoughts all the time. He had thought he was truly over Brian, especially after the stunt he had pulled at the Rage party. But the truth was he would never be over Brian. Brian would always mean something to him. He would always be his first kiss, his first sexual experience, his first everything. A day would never go by that he didn’t think about Brian. 

In the beginning right after the Rage party, Justin didn’t think about him much except for how angry he was that he had fucked Rage. At HIS party, the party he had thrown for HIM. That was when he knew that Brian would never change. That night at the party when Brian had caught him and Ethan kissing, he looked at Brian with sad eyes. And it was true. Even though he was mad, he was also sad. As much as he wanted to stay with Brian, he knew that Brian was never going to change. He didn’t want Brian to change much. Just a simple, “I want you here” would have sufficed. But Brian hadn’t even said that, and then he had fucked Rage. Justin knew it was time to go to someone who could give him the words he wanted to hear, the romance, the emotions. So he left. And it was over.

Justin saw that the bus had come to his stop and so he quickly exited. He then turned to go to Mel and Linds’s house. 

As he was walking, he began to think about how his life had been since he had been with Ethan. Sure, Ethan was romantic and said “I love you” to him at least three times a day and they had some great times together. But he didn’t feel for Ethan the same way he did for Brian. Whenever he and Brian had been together, the love Justin felt for him was burning. He couldn’t wait to be with Brian, couldn’t wait to be touched or kissed by the man. There was a flame inside of him. And the sex, wow the sex!! There were hardly words. Brian was by far the best lover he had ever had. Whenever they made love, the connection between them was incredible. Even Brian thought it was amazing. And even though Justin cared for Ethan, he didn’t love Ethan. And he wasn’t in love with Ethan. He had tried, but it just hadn’t worked. He knew it was only a matter of time before the two of them broke up, and then he would have to start over from square one.

Justin soon approached the house and rang the doorbell. Lindsey came to the door, followed by an excited Gus.

“Justin,” Lindsey said, coming over to give the boy a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”

“You too, Linds,” Justin said, embracing the woman.

“Jusin!!” Gus called from his mother’s leg, wanting some attention.

“Hey Gus,” Justin said, as he reached down to pick the toddler up. “How are you?”

“Happy!!” Gus giggled cheerfully, his little hands clinging onto Justin’s turtleneck.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Justin said, walking over to the living room and sitting down on a sofa.

Mel then came down the stairs. “Hey Justin.”

“Hey Mel,” Justin said back. “Good to see you.”

“You too. I see you already found Gus.”

“Oh yes, he ran right to me, didn’t you Gus?” Justin asked.

Melanie laughed and sat down across from her son and Justin.

“He’s been happy ever since I told him you were coming over,” Lindsey said. “He just adores you.”

“And I adore him,” Justin said, giving Gus a little nose nuzzle and then placing a kiss on the toddler’s cheek.

Melanie smiled and looked over at Lindsey. Lindsey returned the smile and nodded at Melanie’s unspoken remark.

“So are you ready for brunch?” Lindsey said, heading towards the kitchen. “I just finished cooking the waffles.”

“Sure,” Justin said, carrying Gus into the kitchen with them. Justin sat him down in his booster seat, which was next to his chair, across the table from the two girls. All four of them had an enjoyable time, talking about Justin’s schoolwork, his latest art projects, Ethan, and then finally all the cute things that Gus had done in the past few weeks. 

“Eat as much as you like Justin,” Lindsey said. “There’s plenty.”

“Thanks,” Justin said, helping himself to another plate. He then said, “So what have you girls been up to lately? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

Melanie looked at Lindsey, knowing it was time to ask him the big question. 

“Well,” Mel said, glancing one last time at Lindsey. “We’ve been thinking about having another baby.”

Justin looked up from his plate, first surprised, and then grinning. “Oh that’s great. Gus will get to have a little brother or sister,” he said, as he reached over and tickled the toddler’s tummy. Gus laughed.

“Yes, we thought it might be nice for Gus to have a sibling,” Lindsey said.

“So are you going to ask Brian again?” Justin asked Lindsey.

Lindsey replied, “No.”

That answer caught Justin off guard and he looked up, eyebrows raised. Lindsey looked over at Mel, which caused Justin to look over at Mel.

Melanie smiled. “I’m actually going to be the one to carry our next child.”

Justin replied, “Wow, that’s great. I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you,” Melanie said, glowing.

“So, if Brian isn’t going to be the father, who is?” Justin questioned curiously.

Melanie took a deep breath and gave her wife one last smile. “We wanted to ask you to be the father.”

Justin’s jaw dropped and his fork slipped through his suddenly numbed fingers. “Me?” he said.

“Yes,” Mel said, smiling. 

Justin still looked confused and got up from the table. “Why me?” 

Melanie followed Justin into the living room, Lindsey up Gus to trail after her.

Melanie answered, “Because Justin, you are an amazing person. Not only are you incredibly handsome and talented, but you also have a wonderful heart and a kind and loving nature.

“Which is something we hope to instill in Gus and to our second child,” Lindsey added.

Justin was amazed. He never thought he would get to be a father. He was surprised when he had found out that first night that Brian had a child. He knew that Brian had gotten lucky. Not many gay men have the chance, without paying a shit load of money, to have a child. Mel and Linds were giving him a wonderful opportunity. He couldn’t be happier.

Justin went over and gave Mel a hug. “I can’t believe it. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Melanie looked over at her wife and smiled as she held on to Justin. “So, does that mean yes?” Melanie asked.

Justin stood back and looked at Melanie. “I’d love to.” 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After playing with Gus for several hours and deciding that they would meet again on Wednesday to discuss everything, Justin said goodbye to Mel and Linds and headed on home. He had called Ethan earlier to tall him he would be home late.

He still couldn’t believe that Melanie and Lindsey asked him to be the father of their baby. Him. He was going to be a father. It was just amazing. He wondered what everyone would say, especially his mother. He knew his mom would be thrilled. She thought she wouldn’t get any grandchildren until Molly was old enough. Now she would.

The bus stopped and Justin noticed that he was at the bus stop he used to go to all the time, the one on Tremont St. He was close to Brian’s loft. He began to wonder what Brian would have to say about his news. His curiosity got the better of him, so he went up to the front and got off the bus. 

After the bus left, he stood at the stop and looked down the street. He could see Brian’s building. He wondered if it was really a good idea to go over to his place. Even though it was a place he once called home, Justin knew he wasn’t really welcome there anymore. He had visited the loft a few times since he and Brian had broken up, but he always had a reason. Still, the other night when he had visited him to give him back his bracelet, he had been in a pretty good mood. Even through all the shit Brian had been through the past days, underneath the layers, Justin could see that lovable Brian he used to come home to. Brian and he had actually sort of connected again and it had felt great. Justin hadn’t realized how much he had missed that until he had lost it.

Against his better judgment, Justin’s feet led the way down the street to Brian’s loft in search of the older man’s opinion of his life changing news.


	2. Justin Baby

Brian was sitting at home watching TV, bored out of his mind. Mikey and the professor were having alone time at their apartment. Emmett had called earlier and had let Brian know that he and Theodore were heading to Babylon, but Brian had told him he had work to do. Truth was, he didn’t want to see the happy couple flaunting themselves in front of him again. That morning at the diner when he had seen them feeding each other and calling each other little pet names like “Lambskin” and “Teddybear” had been enough for him. They could be dickless fags without him being present. 

As his mind often did these days, it wondered to thoughts of Justin, and particularly the night he had come over to return Brian’s bracelet to him. He had been so happy when Debbie called and had told him the good news that John had finally coughed up the truth and he was off the hook. He had even gotten out his special stash to celebrate. Then about an hour later, blonde boy showed up at his front door, holding the bracelet. Somehow he knew that Justin had been behind his rescue; he figured Justin was the one that got the truth out. No matter what, he knew that Justin would always be there for him, just as he would be there for Justin. That’s why he had continued to pay his tuition after his good-for-nothing father fell through on him again. He couldn’t let Justin throw away his dreams because of money, something he had plenty of. Hell, half the time he didn’t know what to do with all of it. He was more than happy to help the boy out, even if they were no longer together. Something in his nature was now protective of Justin; he knew he would always help Justin whenever he had the chance and Justin needed the hand. 

So when Justin stood held out the bracelet and suggested to put it back on his wrist, he just stood there in awe. Justin had come through for him once again. 

He wasn’t blind to Justin’s aide. Brian knew it had to have been Justin that had gotten him out of Kip Thomas’s lawsuit. He didn’t know how and he never asked him, but he knew it was Justin. 

Justin had played hero again that night he’d brought him back his bracelet, and Brian had to admit that Justin even looked the part. In fact, he always did. Brian couldn’t ever recall a time he had seen Justin where he didn’t look hot, or beautiful, or gorgeous, or a million other adjectives that could never do Justin any justice. Wearing a blue turtleneck that made his eyes stand out, he’d stepped close to Brain to put the bracelet back on. God, he’d even smelled incredible. And his hair, longer now, still as blond as ever, but wilder. It made him look older, like less of a boy and more of a man. He was a man now. 

A knock on the door interrupted Brian’s thoughts. 

“Jesus,” Brian grumbled as he went over to the door. The only people that would show up at his door unannounced were the munchers and Debbie. Brian wondered which set of woman he would get to contend with tonight. 

“Well, well, which woman didn’t call as…” Brian said opening the loft door. 

Behind the door stood Justin. 

“…usual,” Brian finished lamely, surprised to see Justin. 

Justin smiled. “Hey,” Justin said, knowing Brian was surprised to see him. 

“Hey,” Brian muttered, still in shock, but certainly not displeased. 

“You’re not expecting anyone, are you? If you are, I can leave,” Justin said, knowing that Brian might be having a trick coming over. 

“No... I’m not expecting anyone.” Brian said, showing the empty loft as proof. 

Justin nodded. “Well, I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by. Can I come in?” 

Brian stepped back and held out his hand, welcoming Justin in. 

Justin entered the loft, going over to the sofa. 

Brian went over to the counter and grabbed his bottle of Jim Beam he had been drinking. 

“Want a drink?” Brian offered to Justin. 

“No thanks,” Justin said. “Water would be fine.” 

Brian went over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle. As he walked over to the sofa, he threw it to Justin. 

“Thanks,” Justin said. Brian sat at the other end of the long sofa. 

“So,” Brian said, looking over at Justin. “What’s up Sunshine?” 

“Well, I had a brunch with Mel and Linds earlier and they asked me to do them a little…favor” Justin said. 

“Did they decide to have a three way with you included?” Brian said, downing another shot of the alcohol. 

“Ew, gross,” Justin said. “That’s something I would definitely not be excited about.” 

“Hey, you did it with Daphne,” Brian said. 

“Yeah and you did it with Lindsay,” Justin pointed out. 

“Well, like I said,” Brian shrugged, downing another shot, “how often do I get to see snatch?” 

Justin laughed. “Anyway, they told me they were planning on having another baby.” 

“Oh, that’s yesterday’s news,” Brian said. 

“You know?” Justin said. 

“Yeah, they asked me a few weeks ago if I would donate a sample for Smelly Melly. I told them no at first, but then I said yes because Mikey convinced me we would piss off heterosexuals. Later on, Lindsay told me they decided to go with someone else,” Brian said. 

“Oh,” Justin said awkwardly. 

“So, did they tell you who the donor was or something?” Brian said, wondering what the interesting news could be. 

“Er... yeah. Actually, they sort of asked me to be the father,” Justin mumbled. 

Brian nearly choked on his drink. Had he heard him correctly? Had the munchers really asked Justin? 

Justin smiled, knowing what Brian was thinking. “You heard me right. That’s why I came here.” 

Brian scratched his temple and looked at Justin. “For what?” 

“I wanted your opinion on it. Do you think I should do it?” Justin asked. 

Brian ran his hand through his hair. “Why do you give a shit about what I think?” 

“Because, you are the only one I know that has a kid,” Justin replied. “I thought you could tell me if you think it’s worth it.” 

Brian gave a fake smile and looked over at Justin. “I can’t believe the lezzies got to you too.” 

“Brian,” Justin persisted. “I know you better than that. I know you love Gus. You told me yourself.” 

Brian looked at the near empty bottle of beam in his hand. Justin knew him all too well. He remembered sharing his heart with the blonde not so long ago, whenever he was debating to sign over his parental rights or not. He never knew that he could have a love like he did for Gus. He thought since Jack had hated him from birth that he would be the same way, but the moment he had held Gus in the hospital room, he knew he was hooked. He had fallen in love with this child he had helped create. Brian knew that Justin would probably have the same reaction with his child. 

“If you knew the answer, why did you ask the question?” Brian asked tiredly. 

“Some of us like to be reassured that we’re doing the right thing, Brian,” Justin said. 

Maybe it was the alcohol or perhaps just Justin’s presence, but Brian’s true feelings and thoughts were beginning to show through. 

“Well Justin, I think you’d make a great dad,” Brian said quietly. 

Justin’s face lit up with his trademark smile. “Really?” 

“Yeah,” Brian said. “You are practically Gus’s dad now.” 

Justin scooted over closer to the older man. “You should go over and see him more often. I know he would be thrilled to see you. He always asks me where you are whenever I’m there.” 

Brian laughed a little bitterly. “I guess he still associates us together.” 

“Yeah...” Justin said sadly, looking away. 

Brian drained the last of the bottle before asking the question he really didn’t care to hear an answer to. “Where’s your boyfriend?” 

“He’s at home,” Justin said. “Probably practicing since I’m not there.” 

“Shouldn’t you be heading home?” Brian said, standing up and placing the empty Jim Beam container in the trash. He then walked his way up to the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess,” Justin sighed, not really wanting to leave. 

This place had been his home. He looked at his watch to see that it was only 8:30. He looked over into the bedroom to see that Brian had not closed the blinds. They were fully opened and you could see him taking off all of his clothes, getting ready for bed. Justin figured Brian was probably tired and wanted to get a good night’s sleep for work. He watched Brian pull up the duvet and lay himself down on the sheets beneath it. Brian then closed his eyes and just seemed to fall asleep. 

After watching Brian intently for a few moments, he turned and looked around the loft, noting the many changes that had taken place. He looked around the loft and took in the sites. Brian had redecorated a lot since he had moved out. New furniture was all over the loft, along with some new equipment. Everything in Brian’s loft looked so in order. Justin remembered that Brian used to yell at him for throwing his stuff all over the place. He had messed up all the clean lines of Brian’s architectural genius. But now, Brian had them back. The place looked spic and span, not a thing out of place. Justin looked over at the bed he had shared with the man sleeping on it and began to remember all the wonderful times he had had there. That was the bed he had first had sex on. It was also the bed he had first had sex on after the bashing, when Brian had first made love to him. So many wonderful memories occurred on that bed. 

Sitting back down and stifling a yawn, Justin looked around the loft again, reliving two years worth of memories. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian woke up at 3:00 to go to the bathroom, when he noticed that someone was on his couch. After relieving himself, he went over to the couch to see who it was and again, he found himself face to face with a sleeping Justin. Feeling a little disoriented, it took a while for Brian to remember what had happened earlier that evening. The alcohol and Justin’s sudden appearance had nearly crumbled some of the walls he’d been building since the blond had left, and he had felt it better to disengage himself before he said or did anything he might—quite against his character—regret. Justin had an unusual effect on him, not one that most people have. Justin had been the only one able to get past his barriers. Feeling vulnerable from the alcohol and everything that had happened to him lately, he had thought it best to allow Justin to just go home, without the torture of having to have an uncomfortable goodbye scene. 

But instead, the blonde had fallen asleep on his couch. Brian’s eyes looked over Justin’s peaceful face again, seemingly memorizing the way his lashes brushed his cheeks, or how his lips parted a little in his sleep. How many times had he fallen asleep and then woken up to this? 

He had wanted so badly 6 months ago to be able to tell Justin to stay, but he just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t like him to be that way. And once he started changing for one person, he knew there would be no going back. He just wasn’t ready for that then. But now what did he have? He had a partnership in an advertising firm where he made almost a quarter of a million dollars a year, a great loft that was fully paid for with all new furniture, appliances, and equipment, the car of his dreams, which had been a new addition for him after having the jeep for so long, and a wardrobe with more designer labels than one could count. The one thing he was missing in his life was a family. He had a nice group of friends, but all of them had paired up and left him out. Linds had Mel, Mikey had Ben, Ted had Em,( although he hated to think about it), and….Justin had Ethan. Damn, even Debbie had Carl. He never realized he was so alone. 

He always told himself that love and relationships were what straight people did. But if so, why was he the only one following the rules? Why did everyone else have someone else? What was so good about having a “partner”? He remembered making fun of Mikey and David a long time ago. Lindsay had said it was nice to have someone beside you that shared your life with you. He had just laughed if off, saying he didn’t want to grow old with anyone, but now he started to realize that maybe it was finally time to make a change. He was going to be 32 years old. People are going to start laughing at him at the clubs soon. By his age, most people had settled down, even the lezzies and the fags. 

He looked down again at Justin, realizing that his chance with the blonde was over. He was with the musician now and was happy. If only he had gotten through all this months ago, then he could be with Justin rather than let the chinrat have him. Brian just hoped that Justin was happy, which is what he always wanted for him. Brian took the blanket that was on top of the sofa and placed it on Justin. The blonde stirred, but remained asleep. 

He paused halfway to his bed and turned for one last look, something in his stomach twisting. 

“Goodnight Justin.” 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justin woke up when it was still dark and looked to his left to see what time it was. But, instead of a clock, all he saw was the side of a couch. Justin looked all over and realized he was still at Brian’s. He couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep there. He kicked the blanket off of him and quickly gathered all of his things, checking to see where Brain was before leaving. As he suspected, Brian was sleeping. The clock on his nightstand said it was 5:30. He decided he better leave quick, knowing Brian got up at 6:00 to get ready for work. He punched in the security code and went out the door, before Brian had a chance to wake up and be upset that he had stayed the night. 

Once outside, he walked quickly to the bus stop, luckily only waiting about ten minutes before a bus came. Getting off at a stop close to Ethan’s apartment he practically ran to the building, hoping Ethan hadn’t awoken yet to find him gone. Running up the four flights of stairs, he got his key out and made his way inside as quietly as he could. He noticed the place was a mess, but decided that right now was not the right time to start picking up stuff. He quietly stripped down into his undies and got into bed gently. Ethan didn’t wake up, so Justin curled up on his side of the bed, intent on trying to get more sleep. 

He was almost asleep before he remembered the blanket that had been on him when he’d woken up. He knew who must have put it on him. 

He drifted off to sleep with a small smile on his lips.


	3. Justin Baby

Ethan was already up by the time Justin made his way out of bed. He looked to his left to see that it was 8:00. Justin and Ethan both had late first classes on Monday, so they usually spent the extra time sleeping. Today though, Ethan was out and about early. 

Justin slowly got up and made his way over to the coffee pot to pour himself a cup. Just as he was doing so, Ethan came out of the bathroom fully dressed. 

“Well, well look who’s up,” Ethan said. “I’m quite surprised considering the hour you got in last night.” 

Justin rolled his eyes. He was getting so sick of Ethan’s constant jealousy. He wanted to know where Justin was every minute of the day. Brian had never done that to Justin. If he ever wanted to know what was going on with him, he simply called. Ethan though, demanded to know what Justin’s plans were everyday. 

“So, where were you all night?” Ethan asked. “I know you weren’t at Mel and Linds, so don’t tell me that lie.” 

Justin slammed his coffee cup down on the table. “How do you know?” 

“Because I called around 7:00 and they said you had just left,” Ethan said. 

“You were spying on me?” Justin said angrily. 

Ethan said, “No, I just wanted to know when you were coming home. You had your cell phone off so I called there.” 

“I told you whenever I called that I was going to be home late,” Justin said. 

“I know, I just wanted to know if you were going to be super late or not,” Ethan said. 

Justin replied, “Why should it matter? Late is late.” 

Ethan yelled, “Why are you being so angry? I just wanted to know where my boyfriend was and what he was doing.” 

“You don’t rule over my life Ethan,” Justin said, heading over to sit on the couch. 

“I know,” Ethan said, going over to Justin and sitting next to him. “I wasn’t trying to.” 

Ethan looked over at Justin and started playing with his hair. “Come on, let’s not fight.” 

Justin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He certainly was not going to tell Ethan where he really was last night. He would have a fit. So instead, he told him a lie. 

“If you must know, I was at Daphne’s. I had a little too much to drink and ended up falling asleep on her couch,” Justin said, looking down and playing with his hands. 

“Ok,” Ethan said, cupping Justin’s face with his hands. “I’m sorry.” 

Ethan placed a kiss on Justin’s lips, but Justin didn’t respond back. 

“So, did you have fun at Mel and Lind’s yesterday?” Ethan asked. 

Justin’s mood brightened as he thought of the wonderful afternoon he had had yesterday. He then remembered that Ethan didn’t know his news yet. 

“Yeah,” he said. “They asked me to be the father of their next baby.” 

Ethan smiled. “Oh my God Justin, that’s great,” he said, pulling Justin into a hug. 

“Yeah,” Justin said back. 

“So when’s this going to happen?” Ethan said. 

“I don’t know,” Justin said. “I’m meeting them after school on Wednesday to discuss the details.” 

“Well, I think it’s wonderful. This calls for a celebration,” Ethan said. 

“Isn’t it a little early?” Justin asked, starting to get in one of his sunshine moods again. 

“It’s never too early for a toast,” Ethan said. “Grab the glasses would you?” Justin went over to the cabinet to get the wine goblets they liked to use. When he opened the cabinet though, he noticed they were both gone. Justin closed the cabinet and went over to the kitchen to see if they had been left in there. When there was still no sign of them in the kitchen, Justin went back out to the living room. 

“Ethan, I can’t find the….” Justin said as he went over to the bed. There on Ethan’s nightstand were the two crystal goblets. Justin grabbed them and brought them back into the living area. 

Ethan was sitting on the sofa with the champagne, when Justin came up to him. 

“Did you get them?” Ethan asked, not looking up at Justin. 

“Yeah I got them,” Justin said. “However they’re both dirty.” 

Ethan looked up and saw Justin holding the two goblets. Both still had some red wine in them. 

“I found both of them on your nightstand,” Justin said. “Care to explain?” 

Ethan looked at the goblets. He then got up and took them at of Justin’s hands. 

“Yeah,” Ethan said, heading towards the kitchen. “I was drinking some wine last night and one of the goblets knocked over on the carpet. I didn’t want to use a dirty glass, so I got the other one out.” 

“Then why is there wine in both of them still?” Justin questioned suspiciously. 

Ethan replied, “Oh…well it was late and I was tired and I ended up pouring the wine into the wrong glass. Then I realized it was the wrong glass, so I poured some more into the other glass. I guess I was so tired, I never ended up finishing it.” 

Justin nodded as Ethan washed out the goblets. After cleaning them, he handed one to Justin and headed back into the living room where he had left the champagne. He poured both of them some and then set the bottle down. 

“To you Justin. May you be the best dad in the world,” Ethan said holding his glass up. They clicked their glasses together and drank. 

“And to us,” Ethan said, starting another toast. “May we be together forever.” 

Ethan and Justin clicked their glasses again but this time, only Ethan drank. Justin simply held the glass to his lips and pretended. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian made it in to work late the next morning. He usually liked to get to work at 7:00, but he just couldn’t pull himself out of bed. When his alarm had woken him up at 6:00, he had brought himself up enough to see if the blonde was still on the couch. When he looked over into the living room, he noticed that Justin was no longer there. Brian simply laid back down and fell back to sleep. He finally woke up at 7:30 and got ready for work. He skipped his trip to the diner and got into his office at 9:00 sharp. Normally, this would have been pretty late for someone to just walk into work, but being a partner had its benefits. Gardner didn’t care what time he got in or left each day, as long as he never missed an appointment with a client and kept signing people up. He knew he didn’t have his first appointment until after lunch today, so it wasn’t a big deal. 

As Brian was starting his laptop us on his desk, someone knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” Brian said. 

Cynthia walked in with a smile and a cup of coffee just the way Brian liked it. “Good morning boss,” she said. 

Brian took the coffee and immediately brought it to his lips. “Cyn,” he said quietly. 

“Well, your schedule looks pretty clear for you today. You do have that meeting with Liberty Air at 2:00, but you’re free after that,” Cynthia said. 

Brian nodded and put the coffee down. He then held his hands in his hair. 

Cynthia wanted to ask Brian desperately what was wrong, but she knew better. That would just set him off and then he would be furious with her the rest of the day. She was used to his moods. They were quiet frequent with Brian, and had increased within the last six months. He was still the best ad exec in the company though, which was why he had made partner. 

“Can I get you anything?” Cynthia asked, trying to be helpful. 

Brian looked up to see she was still there. “Yeah, could you bring me some Tylenol or something? I’ve got a bitch of a headache.” 

“Coming right up,” Cynthia said. 

Brian looked at his laptop and brought up the campaign he and his team had created for Liberty Air. As he was flipping through some of his notes, Cynthia brought him some pills. He downed them right away and she left. 

Brian tried his best to think about the presentation he was supposed to be giving at 2:00, but his mind kept wondering back to Justin. Up until last week when Justin had come by to give him his bracelet, Brian had hardly thought of the blonde. Sure he saw him from time to time at the diner and he had asked him to do the poster for Carnival, but besides that, he thought the blonde was out of this system. But now, he just couldn’t get Justin off his mind. It was even worse now that Brian had seen him yesterday. He couldn’t believe Justin had come to the loft and told him the news. He was surprised that Mel and Linds has asked Justin to be the father, but he was more surprised that Justin had come over and told him about it. That he had asked Brian what his opinion was. Did that mean that Justin still cared about him? Yeah, he probably did some what, but not the way he used to. Justin used to be devoted to him, would do anything for him, and Brian had just slapped it away. Now that Brian wanted Justin to be a little devoted to him, he chose to be with the fiddler instead. They just had terrible timing. 

Brian tried to get as much work done as he could; focusing on the presentation he had to give at 2:00. When he felt he was prepared enough, he looked over at his clock to see what time it was. Seeing that it was noon, he decided to head out for lunch early so he could get back in time to go over the final details with his team before the presentation. 

As he walked out of the office, he headed over to Cynthia’s desk. 

“I’m on my way out to lunch. If anyone calls, tell them I’ll be busy until 4:00 and take a message,” Brian said. 

“Yes sir,” Cynthia said, jotting down the time for future reference. “Have a good lunch Brian.” 

Brian walked off and headed towards the elevator, trying to decide where to go. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justin walked into the diner at noon and rushed over to grab an apron so he could begin working. Debbie had called him on his cell phone and had asked him to come into work because two of the waitresses had called in sick and she needed all the help she could get. Justin had told her that he had another class at 3:00, but that he could work for 2 ½ hours and she said that was fine. Justin didn’t mind helping out, especially since all he was going to do was go back to the apartment. He figured less time spent with Ethan these days were better anyway, especially until he could figure out all those feelings he was having about Brian lately. He didn’t know why but the ad exec had jumped back into his everyday thoughts. He decided he just needed time away to get it all straightened out. 

Justin was working hard cleaning tables and taking orders when he noticed Brian walk into the diner. He knew that the man usually came in for lunch, but he had forgotten since he hardly ever worked the lunch shift because of this school schedule. Brian walked up to the counter right in front of where Justin was placing an order. 

“Hey,” Brian said. 

“Hey,” Justin said back. 

“What are you doing here now? Shouldn’t you be at school?” Brian asked curiously. Justin replied, “Debbie asked me to pick up an extra shift this afternoon because two of the waitresses called in sick. My next class isn’t until 3:00, so I agreed.” 

Brian nodded, taking a good look at the boy. He looked so sad lately, not like his usual sunny self. He wondered if Justin was having problems with the fiddler. But then again, he could be having a lot of pressures with school and work too. Brian remembered how it was back in his college days, carrying a full load of classes and holding down two part time jobs. It was hell. But Justin had chosen to be with the poor fiddler and probably needed the extra money. That was one of the biggest reasons Brian had asked Justin to do the poster for the Carnival fundraiser. He had seen first hand that the only job the fiddler had was playing for nickels and dimes on the street. He figured they needed all the money they could get. Brian, still caring about Justin’s well being, wanted to help out, but knew that Justin would not take a hand out. Hell, he hadn’t even wanted to take a handout from him when they were together. So, he helped Justin out without his knowledge. 

“So, can I get you anything Brian?” Justin asked, noticing the ad exec staring at him. 

Brian snapped out of his stare. “Yeah, turkey sandwich on whole wheat, no mayo.” 

Justin wrote down the order on his pad. “Coming right up,” Justin said, going to the back to place the order. 

Brian sat there on the stool waiting for his order when Jennifer walked through the door. Debbie immediately went over to hug the woman as Brian sat there quietly, not wanting to hear what his sort of ex-mother in law had to say to him. He hadn’t seen her since the Rage party, and he knew she probably didn’t have too many kind words to say to him. Much to his dismay, however, Justin came out with his food order just as Jennifer finished her hug with Debbie. Noticing her son, she went over to the counter. Justin came out from behind it to hug his mother. 

“Hi sweetie,” Jennifer said, hugging her son. 

“Hey mom,” Justin said, “what are you doing here at this hour? Did you want something to eat?” 

“No thanks honey,” Jennifer said, noticing Brian sitting on the stool next to her. Not wanting to be rude to the man who had done so much for her son, she looked his way and greeted him. 

“Hello Brian,” Jennifer said calmly. 

“Jennifer,” Brian said, starting to eat his sandwich. 

“So mom, why are you here? If you’ve come to chat with Debbie, we’re way to busy right now,” Justin said. 

“No actually honey, I’m meeting someone here,” Jennifer said. 

Justin looked confused. Who would his mother be meeting at the Liberty Diner? 

“Who?” Justin asked. 

“Ted and Emmett,” Jennifer said. I met them on the street a few days ago and they said they were interested in buying a house. They hadn’t found a realtor yet, so I volunteered.” 

“Wow, that’s great. I didn’t know Ted and Emmett wanted to move into together. I’ve been so out of the loop ever since I’ve been with Ethan,” Justin said. “I hardly see anyone anymore.” 

“Speaking of which, how is Ethan?” Jennifer asked. 

Brian continued to listen to the conversation and looked up to see what Justin’s response was going to be. 

Justin could feel Brian looking at him. He didn’t know why, but he was. 

“Well, Ethan won second place at the Heifetz competition last week,” Justin said, deciding to keep his personal feelings about Ethan at the moment a secret. “He was even offered representation.” 

“Well that’s wonderful sweetheart,” Jennifer said. “I’m glad to hear things are going well.” 

Justin nodded as Ted and Emmett walked through the door. 

“Hey guys,” Emmett said, coming over to the counter. 

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt,” Brian said. 

“Nice to see you too Bri,” Ted mumbled back. 

“Well, I guess we better get going,” Jennifer said while getting off the stool. “I have many places I want to show you.” 

“Ok, bye mom,” Justin said. 

“Bye sweetie,” Jennifer said. “Call me and we’ll have lunch sometime soon.” 

Justin nodded and waved to Ted and Emmett as they walked out the door. 

Brian finished his sandwich and Justin took his plate. “Wow,” Justin said. “Those two are really going to live together?” 

“Yeah I know it’s sad isn’t it?” Brian asked rhetorically, taking out his wallet. 

“No,” Justin said, “I just wouldn’t have pictured it. But I’m happy for them. It’s good that they found that special someone in each other.” 

“If you ask me, I find it positively horrifying,” Brian said. “Two dickless fags trying to set up house. It disgusts me.” 

Justin laughed. “You would see it that way. You don’t know anything about love and romance or the reason people want to have someone to be with.” 

Brian rolled his eyes on that comment. “So how much do I owe you?” he asked. 

Justin looked at his pad and said, “$3.50.” 

Brian pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to Justin. As Justin made his way over to the cash register to get him change, Brian said to keep it. 

Justin looked down at the twenty dollar bill and said, “That’s a big tip.” 

“You’ll need it to buy some expensive lotion by the time you finish jerking off for Mel and Linds,” Brian said, going out the door. 

Justin looked up and smiled. Even though school, work, and his relationship with Ethan were going to shit, he still had one thing to look forward to. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Justin and Ethan were sitting down for dinner. Ethan had called him up and told him earlier that he had been invited to play for the Harrisburg Symphony. His manager had called him with the news last night. Justin decided to be nice and cook him a special dinner in honor of his accomplishment. As both of them were sitting down to eat, someone knocked on the door. 

“Jesus, who’s that at this hour?” Ethan asked tiredly. 

Justin shrugged and went over to get the door. A tall dirty blonde boy was behind the door holding a bouquet of roses. 

“Is Ethan here?” the boy asked. When Ethan heard his name called, he came over to see who was at the door. Ethan frowned when he saw the boy. 

“What are you doing here?” Ethan asked. Justin noticed the big grin that was on the boy’s face when Ethan came up to the door. 

“I wanted to thank you for last night,” the boy said, handing Ethan the flowers, “and see if you wanted to get together again.” 

Justin turned to Ethan and crossed his arms. “Last night?” 

The boy asked, “Who are you? His roommate?” 

Justin laughed and grabbed the flowers from Ethan. “I’m his muse,” he said as he turned and walked away. 

Ethan looked over at the boy. “You shouldn’t have come here. I think you better leave,” Ethan said as he shut the door on the boy. 

Justin walked over to the closet and got his overnight bag and packed some clothes. Ethan came up to him and started to speak. 

“Justin, it’s not what you…” he said. 

“I know it’s exactly what I think Ethan,” Justin said, finishing Ethan’s words. “It all makes sense now.” 

Ethan just stood there and watched Justin pack. “Justin, you can’t go.” 

As soon as Justin finished getting some things together, he stood up and looked at Ethan. 

“Ethan, we were just fooling ourselves anyway. You and I both knew this wasn’t going to work. We’re too different. And your stunt you just pulled was the icing on the cake,” Justin said. 

“But I love you,” Ethan said. 

“What in the hell does that mean anyway?” Justin said. “Words without actions are nothing Ethan. If you say something, you should mean it.” 

“Oh, and I guess Brian did everything right,” Ethan said. 

Justin said, “This has nothing to do with Brian. But at least Brian never made any promises to me he couldn’t keep. You did.” 

Justin walked over to the door with Ethan following behind him. “But Justin…”

Justin turned around one last time. “Anyway, you still have your music. That was always your first love. I’ll be back to pick up the rest of my stuff later.” 

Justin turned and left without looking back again. He walked down the four flights of stairs and walked outside, breathing in the fresh winter air. It was time to find a new place to live and start again fresh with a new life.


	4. Justin Baby

Wednesday finally came around, and Justin met Mel and Linds right after his last class, in a small cozy coffee shop close to PIFA. After his breakup with Ethan Monday night, he hadn’t had many pleasant moments. Between work, school, and moving his things over to Daphne’s, he’d been pretty busy, and nothing extraordinary had happened. 

Immediately spotting the girls when he entered the coffeehouse, he went over to them and both gave them a hug. They then found a table that was vacant and sat down. 

“We heard the news Justin,” Lindsay began. 

“About what?” Justin asked. 

“About you and Ethan,” Melanie said. “Debbie — she told us at the diner earlier this morning. We’re sorry.” 

“Oh,” Justin said, slightly cursing Debbie for telling everyone. He knew he shouldn’t have told her, but Daphne had come by the diner yesterday and handed him a copy of the apartment key that she had just made for him. Debbie of course noticed, and he was forced to tell her the whole damn story. 

“Well that’s done and over with,” Justin said. “It was time to move on.” 

Melanie reached out and touched his hand, “I know — but are you sure you still want to go through with this? We’ll understand if you’re not up to it.” 

Justin shook his head. “No, I’m totally up for it. I’m living with Daphne now and she and I get along great. My relationship with Ethan was actually what was weighing me down. I feel a load has been lifted off my shoulders,” he said, truly meaning it. 

“OK, as long as you’re sure,” Melanie said, smiling at her wife. Lindsay smiled back, happy that their plans didn’t have to be changed. 

“Absolutely,” Justin enthused. 

“Alright, then lets talk about the agreement then,” Lindsay said. 

“OK,” Justin said. 

“You do know what will be required?” Melanie asked. 

Justin nodded, smiling. “Unless babies are being made in new ways these days, I think I have the general idea,” he stated, causing both Melanie and Lindsay to laugh. 

Melanie pulled out a stack of papers from her briefcase. “Then all you need to do is sign this,” she said, handing the papers over to Justin. 

Justin started reading and realized what the papers were. “What’s this?” he asked, wanting clarification on why they wanted him to sign them. 

“It’s just a formality,” Melanie started. 

“To protect us as well as you,” Lindsay quickly added. 

Melanie pointed out some important paragraphs for Justin to read, regarding his parental rights as well as visitation and financial obligations. 

“Basically, this just releases you from all financial obligations,” Melanie said. 

“Yeah, and it also says I never have to see my own kid,” Justin blandly stated. 

“Well Justin, you will know the baby and the baby will know you,” Lindsay said. 

“Right — when he or she is old enough, you can tell them I’m the donor,” Justin said. 

Melanie replied, “After the episode with Brian not wanting to give up his parental rights, I’m sure you understand why we need to do this.” 

“You don’t have to tell me. I was there. I watched him those long nights when he was deciding whether or not to give his son away. It was one of the toughest decisions he ever had to make. It almost tore him up,” Justin said. 

Lindsay looked over at Melanie. Justin continued speaking. 

“And now I’m beginning to see how he felt. I grew up with a wonderful father, and having him there during my childhood really added to my life. I can’t imagine a child growing up without one,” Justin concluded. 

“But this is what we agreed to,” Melanie said. 

Justin replied, “Then I must have heard you wrong because I thought you asked me to be the father, not just the donor.” 

Melanie sighed and looked at Lindsay again. Lindsay had tears in her eyes. 

“I understand you need to do what’s right for you,” Justin said, getting up from the table. “But then again, so do I.” 

Justin started walking away and Lindsay stood up. “Justin,” she called out to him. 

Melanie gathered the papers and put them back in her briefcase. This was going to be a lot harder than she had planned. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Justin went to Woody’s. It had been forever since he’d last been there — Ethan didn’t like hanging out in the clubs or bars. But after the fiasco with the girls earlier, he decided he needed to drown his sorrows. Nothing had been going right for him lately. Taking a seat at the bar, he sat there and tried to order himself a beer. 

The guy at the bar said, “Need to see some ID.” 

Justin got pissed off. “I’ve been coming here for years,” he said angrily. 

“Well then you shouldn’t have a problem showing me some ID,” the guy said. 

Justin sat back exasperatedly. He couldn’t believe it. He had been able to buy his own drinks for a year now. He never had a problem before. But then again, all the guys used to see him come in with Brian. This guy was new. 

“The one day I NEED a FUCKING drink…” Justin shouted. 

“Two beers,” Brian came up and told the guy at the bar. He then sat in the stool next to Justin. 

The guy looked at Brian and then back at Justin. 

“What? Do you need to see my ID?” Brian shouted at the bartender. 

The guy rolled his eyes and went to the back to get the beers and brought them to Brian. 

Brian grabbed the beers and looked over at Justin. He handed one over to him. 

“Thanks,” Justin said, gladly accepting the beer Brian was holding out for him. 

Brian examined the blond’s face and knew something was wrong. His baby blue eyes had turned pale. 

“So did the fiddler leave you at home so he could go play on the street again?” Brian asked. 

“Damned if I know — and damned if I cared,” Justin said, drinking a sip of the beer. 

Brian laughed. “Do I sense some tension here?” he asked. 

“If you want to call it that, sure,” Justin retorted. 

Brian said, “So shouldn’t you be going home to your boyfriend to work things out?” 

Justin cracked a laugh and said, “He isn’t my boyfriend.” 

Brian look surprised. That was the last thing he thought he would hear. “Since when?” 

“Since we broke up,” Justin replied, downing another sip of the beer. 

“Oh,” Brian said, feeling something akin to relief. Ethan was no longer in the picture. 

“But I don’t care about that,” Justin continued, “I was going to break up with him anyway. He was a control freak,” he concluded. 

“Really? So why are you here, drowning away your sorrows?” Brian questioned. 

Justin finished his beer and Brian ordered him another. As he began on the second pint, he said, “Because of Mel and Linds.” 

“Ah… the munchers — bringing joy and comfort to a lost soul,” Brian said in his infamous mellifluous voice, drinking a shot of Jim Beam. “What did they do this time?” 

Justin quickly answered, “They wanted me to sign over my parental rights right away. Basically, they just want me to beat off in a cup and forget about it.” 

“I see Melanie learned her lesson last time around,” Brian said. 

“Yeah, she even mentioned it was because of you not wanting to give up your rights to Gus, that they needed to do this,” Justin said. 

Brian gulped down the rest of his beer. “Well, what did you expect Justin? You wanted to be father of the year?” 

“No,” Justin said, “but I at least wanted the baby to know I’m its father. I wanted him, or her, to call me ‘dad’ and maybe — occasionally — I thought I could spend some time alone with him or her. When they asked me, I didn’t think I was just going to be the donor.” 

Brian looked over and saw such sadness in the boy’s eyes he could tell this was something Justin really wanted. He knew what Justin was going through. He had been there, when Mel and Linds had asked him to give up Gus. He knew how hard it had been on him — and he, supposedly, was the heartless shit. He could only imagine how Justin would feel after he saw his child for the first time; he wouldn’t be able to do what he did. 

“Well, you know how dykes are, they’ll probably end up changing their minds and begging you for your sperm later,” Brian said. 

“I don’t know,” Justin said. “They seemed so sure that it was what they wanted. I mean — I have no problem giving up my parental rights to Lindsay. I knew I was going to have to do that. It’s their family and she needs to have rights over him or her so she can do things legally that concerns the child. But I thought I was going to still be in the picture. I thought I was going to be just like you.” 

“You could never be like me Justin,” Brian mumbled. 

“You know what I mean,” Justin said. “Gus knows you. You see him from time to time and spend time together with him. I thought I could at least have that with the child I helped to create.” 

Brian had to smile at the boy he once knew as a lover. The blond had changed so much in the past months. He had become so strong willed, so determined. Justin had always been independent, but Brian saw a spark in the boy that made him proud. He stood up for what he believed in. Justin was no coward and was tough as nails. He had matured so much in the few months he had been away from him. In a way, that saddened Brian to know that Justin was no longer naïve and innocent. But Brian knew that it was for the best. After all, you had to be tough to be a homosexual in this world and he had always told Justin he wanted him to be the best homosexual he could be. 

“I should go,” Justin said, standing up and wobbling back and forth. 

Brian held his arm to help Justin steady himself. Once the blond was able to stand on his own two feet, Brian said, “I’ll drive you home. I don’t think you should be walking.” 

Justin agreed without a fight and walked out of the bar with Brian. As he looked for the jeep, Brian led him over to the corvette he had recently bought. 

“Is this yours?” Justin said, looking at the older car. 

“Yeah,” Brian said, unlocking the door. 

“Wow, Bri, when did you buy this?” Justin asked. 

“Right after the GLC fundraiser. This is where my 20% of the top went,” Brian said. 

“Nice,” Justin said, getting into the car. “This is a cool car.” 

“Thanks,” Brian said. “So where am I taking you? Debs?” 

Justin shook his head. “I’m staying with Daphne. It’s right over by PIFA. Go there and I’ll show you where to turn.” 

“OK,” Brian said, starting the engine and starting to drive. Through the drive, both took turns steeling glances at one another. Justin loved feeling Brian so close to him. Brian enjoyed a similar feeling. When they got to the institute, Justin told Brian where to go and they soon were in front of a large habitat building. 

“This is it,” Justin said, looking over at Brian. 

Brian put the car in park and looked over at Justin. 

“Thanks for taking me home,” Justin said. 

“No problem. Hope things with Mel and Linds works out for you,” Brian said. 

“Me too,” Justin said. 

Both began to feel the electricity between them, as they continued to sit in the parked car. Justin, still a little inebriated, leaned over closer to Brian, resting his head on his shoulder. Brian in response turned his head and placed his lips on top of Justin’s. Justin felt Brian’s lips touch his and opened up his mouth to let Brian’s tongue inside. The flame between them was rekindled as they once again came together. Arms began to fly to wrap around the other and tongues were dueling inside each other’s mouths. Once the kiss was finally ended, both Brian and Justin stared at each other intently, as they placed a last peck on each other’s lips. 

As soon as they moved apart, Justin opened the door and got out. 

“Later Bri,” Justin said, standing outside of the open car door. 

“Later,” Brian said. Justin closed the door and went inside the building as Brian smiled from the car. That was the way it would always be for the two of them: always later and never good bye.


	5. Justin Baby

It was 6 p.m. and Brian was just exiting his office, leaving his long, ever-lasting day behind, and really wanting nothing more than to get home and fall into bed. Still, instead, he was headed past Liberty Avenue, into the muncher’s neighborhood — feeling the need to take advantage of one of the few rare nights free of professional dinners with potential clients. 

The reason, of course, for which he was heading into that neighborhood (of all places to go on a free night!) was Justin. Justin; he couldn’t rationalize the ‘why’ behind the kiss he’d given the blond twink earlier. He didn’t know whether it had just been because Justin was so close to him, or if it had been a surge of happiness knowing the fiddler was out of the picture. Whatever the reason, as soon as he had laid his lips upon Justin, the magic between them had sprung back to life. Kissing Justin again had brought back all the good memories between them: the lazy Saturday afternoons they’d spend fucking, eating, and sleeping all day; morning fucks in the shower; and of course their wild fucking on the chaise. But Brian hadn’t just thought about the sex between them though that definitely always was hot. But he had other memories of them too though — like how Justin would lay in his lap whenever they watched DVD, or how Justin would make him eat ice cream by placing it on the special areas of his body. He even remembered the dance the two of them had shared at the pride parade. Life with Justin had been one of the best times in his life; he just hadn’t known it at the time. Brian had always thought life was about prowling and being a stud, but he couldn’t help realize, in the past few months, that tricking was just to get him through, until he found the real thing. Now he wondered if he would get the real thing back. 

That wasn’t the reason he was heading over to the munchers though. He needed to somehow persuade Mel and Linds to let Justin be a real father to the child, instead of just being a donor. He could see how much the boy wanted this chance, and Brian figured it was the least he could do for the blonde after being the one responsible for fucking their relationship up. Or partly at least. He knew Justin and he were both to blame for what happened, although his pretended aloofness was what had ignited it. 

He soon pulled up to the two story house and made his way up to the door. After ringing the doorbell, he heard a rustling from behind the door and soon the door was opened by the tougher dyke. 

“Well, well, well — aren’t we surprised?” Mel said. “Who else would show up at our door at dinner time, unannounced?” 

“Nice to see you too Mel,” Brian said, as he made his way inside. 

Lindsay came out of the kitchen, grinning when she saw Brian. “Brian, what a surprise,” Lindsay said, running over to give Brian a hug. 

She and Brian embraced, much to Melanie’s dismay, and walked over into the kitchen. 

“DADDY!!!!,” an excited Gus said from his high chair, stretching both arms out. 

“Hey sonny boy,” Brian said, immediately going over to pick up his son. 

“I missed daddy,” Gus said as soon as Brian had picked him up. “Why no come see me?” 

“I would have liked to Gus, but daddy was busy,” Brian said to his son in a soothing voice while rubbing his son’s back. 

“Yeah, busy doing …” Mel said. 

“Mel,” Lindsay said, giving her a glare. Brian sat down in an empty chair with Gus in his lap. 

“Sorry,” Mel grunted. “You however disturbed us right in the middle of dinner.” 

“Well, I can wait and—” Brian said. 

“No, it’s alright,” Lindsay said at the stove. “I made enough. You can stay for dinner.” 

Melanie glared at her wife, but then begrudgingly mellowing quite aware that she was on the losing side anyway. Whenever it came to Brian, Mel would always be wrong. It was just something she had to accept. 

Lindsay served Brian a plate and took Gus from him so he could eat. They all continued on with their dinner in relative silence, only talking when Gus brought something up.

As soon as dinner was over, Brian took Gus back out to the living room to play while Melanie and Lindsay cleared up the dishes. Once they were done, they both came back out to the living room and sat down on the sofa. 

“So Brian, was there a particular reason you came today, besides to see Gus?” Lindsay asked curiously. 

“Actually there was,” Brian said, getting off the floor and standing up in front of the two women. 

“What is it?” Lindsay asked. 

Brian took a deep breath and looked over at Melanie’s face. Speaking directly to her, he said, “I don’t think you are being fair to Justin.” 

Mel stood up, a look of outrage on her face. “What in the hell are you talking about?” 

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Brian said. “I know you asked Justin to be the father of your next child, or should I say the donor.” 

“How in the hell is it your business?” Mel asked angrily. 

“Because Justin will always be my business,” Brian said. 

“Oh yeah? Last I heard you two had called it quits,” Mel said. 

“It doesn’t matter if Justin and I aren’t together anymore,” Brian said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t know what he wants.” 

“Jusin?” Gus asked, recognizing the name. “Where’s Jusin?” 

Brian looked back at his son and went over and picked him up. “Yes Justin, Sonny Boy,” Brian said. “You’ll get to see him later.” Brian placed a soft kiss on the child’s plump cheek and handed him to Lindsay. She in turn brought him upstairs so he wouldn’t have to listen to his mama and daddy argue. 

Mel had had time to think and had come up with a pretty good comeback. 

“If what Justin wants is so important to you, why the fuck couldn’t you make your relationship with him work, huh?” Melanie spat. 

That statement struck Brian right in the heart. He knew he had messed up big time and he didn’t need a constant reminder. He already had a daily reminder of it anyway. It was called waking up alone every morning. 

Brian softened a little and looked right into Mel’s eyes. “That has nothing to do with the matter at hand. What matters is that Justin is upset because he thought he was going to be a father and he comes to find out that all his two lezzy friends wanted him to do was jerk off in a cup and be on his merry way.” 

“We never said that to Just—” Melanie exclaimed. 

“Whatever you said, Justin got the impression that you wanted him to sign away his rights to Lindsay and then never come by here again. He got the impression that the baby wouldn’t be told who his or hers father was and that he wouldn’t be able to have anytime with the baby himself,” Brian said. 

“We wanted to make sure that what happened at the hospital with Gus when he was five months old wasn’t going to happen again,” Melanie said, softening her tone. 

“So in order to do that, you have to make sure that the baby won’t even know that Justin’s its father until he or she is of age?” Brian asked. 

“Well, what we have is an alternative family,” Melanie said, “with two mommies. We don’t need any more dads in the picture.” 

“Do you think that Gus knowing and seeing his dad is going to be fair, when your own child won’t?” Brian asked. 

Lindsay came down the stairs right as Brian was finishing his statement. 

“He’s right Mel,” Lindsay said. 

Melanie looked up at her wife, who had just entered the room. 

“It wouldn’t be fair to our other child,” Lindsay said. “Gus will always know Brian and it just wouldn’t be right if our other child didn’t know his father. That’s why we decided to go with a friend instead of the sperm bank to begin with.” 

Melanie sighed, knowing they were right. No matter how much Mel hated it, Brian would always be Gus’ father and therefore would always be part of his life. She knew her child would want to have a father as well. 

“I guess you’re right,” Melanie said. “I just didn’t want Justin to pull a stunt like you did.” 

“Justin and I are two different people,” Brian said. 

“You got that right,” Melanie mumbled. 

Brian rolled his eyes. “Justin already knows that he’ll need to give up his parental rights to Lindsay so what happened with Gus won’t happen. He just wanted the baby to know him as dad.” 

Melanie looked at her wife and saw tears glistening in her eyes. 

“You should have seen the look in his eyes when we told him the news at the café,” Lindsay said. “He looked devastated.” 

“He was,” Brian said. 

“How do you know all this?” Melanie asked. 

“Because I was the one that Justin went to for advice after he found out the good news and I just happened to be the one he ran into whenever he had found out the bad news,” Brian said. 

“I thought you and Justin had broken up,” Melanie said. “Why would he come to you?” 

“Because no matter what we’ve been through, he still values my opinion because I don’t bullshit,” Brian said. 

“Well no matter what, you still took the initiative to come here,” Lindsay said smiling. “This can only mean that you still care about him.” 

Brian looked down at the floor, “I never stopped.” 

Lindsay and Mel looked at each other, both surprised to hear the admission from Brian Kinney’s mouth. 

“Well,” Lindsay said, coming over to rub Brian’s shoulder. “Why don’t you try and win him back? He and Ethan broke up.” 

“I know,” Brian said. “He told me.” 

“So ...?” Lindsay said. 

“So that doesn’t make a difference. We still had problems before the fiddler came along,” Brian said. 

“Yeah, but maybe now—” Lindsay said. 

“Linds, I don’t want to talk about this right now,” he said. “Whatever you do, don’t tell Justin I came here and talked to you. I don’t want him to think I did anything. He should think it was a decision you two made.” 

Lindsay nodded and watched Brian head out the door. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, Justin was moping around the apartment, thinking about everything that had happened during the past week. On the whole, it had been more eventful than the past six months together. He had found out that he might get to become a father, had caught Ethan cheating on him, broke up with Ethan, moved into Daphne’s apartment, found out that he wasn’t going to be a father after all, and then to top it all off, he and Brian had kissed. He couldn’t believe it when he felt Brian’s lips upon his once again. It was like a spark had flown between them. It was something he had been longing for. He had missed Brian terribly, and the kiss between them proved to him that Brian felt the same way. But he knew he couldn’t go running back to the ad exec, now that Ethan and he were finished. Brian would never allow it. Brian would never allow himself to be second best. No, he had messed up big time when he had left with Ethan, at the Rage party. He had just been so pissed at Brian for not even telling him he wanted him to stay. He knew that deep down, Brian did love him. He had heard comments from Debbie and even Lindsay on how much Brian did actually care for him. But to Justin, none of it mattered that night. He was just fed up and wanted a different life. Who knew that different could turn out to be just as horrible? 

Daphne came home from work in the evening and found Justin sitting in his room, smoking cigarettes. She quickly changed into more comfortable clothes and went into his room. 

“Hey,” she said, going over to turn Justin’s stereo down. 

“Hi,” Justin said grumpily. 

“Want some peach yogurt?” Daphne suggested, handing the container over to him. 

“No thanks,” Justin said, taking another puff of his cigarette. 

“It’s just that it’s a lot healthier than all those cigarettes you are consuming,” she said. 

“I don’t need a health lecture Daph,” Justin said, continuing to stare at the wall in front of him. 

“Justin, you have been depressed for days,” Daphne said. 

“I know,” Justin said. “I’m a lousy roommate. I’ll move out if you want me to.” 

“Did I say that?” Daphne said. 

“I just can’t help it,” Justin said. “I’ve had the craziest week ever.” 

“Yeah I know,” Daphne said, coming over to sit on the bed next to her friend. “I can’t believe Mel and Linds did what they did to you. It was so wrong.” 

“Yeah,” Justin said. “Not only that, I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m going out of my mind.” 

Daphne rolled her eyes. “He wasn’t that great of a guy anyway Justin. Just tell yourself, Ethan’s history.” 

Justin smashed his cigarette down into the ashtray and looked up. “Ethan? Who’s talking about Ethan? I’m talking about Brian.” 

“Brian?” Daphne said. “I thought you were over Brian.” 

“I thought I was too,” Justin said, standing up so he could look at his friend face to face. “But the other day he kissed me and all my feelings changed again. 

“Oh my God!” Daphne said. “When did this happen?” 

“That Wednesday I found out the bad news,” Justin said. “Remember I told you I went to Woody’s?” 

“Yeah,” Daphne said. 

“Well, Brian came in and we talked about the situation for a while. I was kind of drunk by the time I was ready to leave so he offered me a lift home. When we stopped in front of the apartment building, he leaned over and kissed me,” Justin said. 

“Justin Craig Taylor, I can not believe you did not tell me this!” Daphne said outraged. 

Justin laughed at his friend. “I didn’t want to say anything at first because I wanted to see if I could just could forget about it. But I can’t. It was just so fucking fantastic,” Justin said. 

Daphne smiled at Justin. She was glad that Justin wanted Brian back in his life. Justin had been the happiest when he was with Brian, and Daphne wanted him to be happy. Plus, she had always liked Brian, so it was a two for one deal for her. 

“So what do you do when you realize you’ve made the biggest fucking mistake of your pathetic life?” Justin said. 

“I don’t know — tell him you still love him?” Daphne said. 

“Ha! He’d laugh in my fucking face,” Justin exclaimed. 

“Write him a letter?” Daphne said. 

“He’d tear it up,” Justin said. 

“I don’t know, commit suicide?” Daphne suggested. 

“He’d let me die,” Justin said. 

“No he wouldn’t. You told me yourself that you and Brian were still friends,” Daphne said. 

“Well, maybe he wouldn’t let me die,” Justin said. “But I know Brian. He isn’t going to just take me back because I broke up with Ethan. He doesn’t want to look desperate. Plus, he’s never second to anyone.” 

“Well, then why don’t you show him what he’s been missing?” Daphne said. 

“How?” Justin said. 

“When was the last you went to Babylon?” Daphne said. 

“The Rage Party,” Justin said. “Ethan hated going out to the clubs.” 

“Well go there, dressed in your sexiest outfit ever, and find some cute stud to dance with. Brian will see you dancing with whoever it is you find and will want you for himself,” Daphne said. 

“How do you know Brian will go for that?” Justin asked. 

“Because whenever you dance, you are completely hot and sexy, the way you shake your lil’ ass and move your hips. Brian’s radar will spot you in no time,” Daphne said. 

“Daph!” Justin said, surprised by the admission of his best friend. 

“Hey, I’m allowed to say so,” Daphne said. “It’s in the best friend’s handbook.” 

“Oh really?” Justin said, smiling. 

“Yeah,” Daphne said. “Anyway, this plan has got to work. It worked the first time around.” 

“When was there a first time?” Justin asked. 

“Back when Brian tossed you away like a trick at the beginning. Remember the night at Babylon when you gained back his attention?” Daphne said. 

“Oh yeah,” Justin said, recalling the event that had happened so long ago. “I guess that did work.” 

“Yeah so get your sexiest outfit ready and tomorrow night, go to Babylon,” Daphne said. 

Justin smiled and went over to his best friend. “Thanks Daph,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. 

“I fully expect to get one of those from Brian when you two get back together,” she said, standing up and leaving the room. 

Justin took the peach yogurt Daphne had left in the room and opened it up. Now that there was hope for him and Brian, he had suddenly gained his appetite back.


	6. Justin Baby

Justin was working the early evening shift the next day at the diner. He had plans to go home from his shift at 8:00, get showered and changed, get something to eat, and then head over to Babylon at 11:00. He knew he would probably have some time to survey the place before Brian got there, since Brian didn’t usually show up with the boys until midnight. 

When 6:00 rolled around, two familiar lesbians headed into the diner, actually accompanied by there two year old son. Melanie pushed the stroller over to a nearby booth and Lindsay grabbed a high seat for Gus. When they had all gotten situated, the new waitress Kiki went over to take their order, since they were sitting in her section. She however soon approached Justin in the kitchen. 

“Justin, honey, the people at booth five requested you,” Kiki said. 

Justin knew that was the booth where the munchers were, and knew they probably wanted him to go over there so they could apologize. He figured he might as well go over there and face the music now then wait and let the animosity between them grow. He didn’t hate Mel and Linds, just had been disappointed. But, he would get over it. 

Justin grabbed his notepad out of his apron and went over to Mel and Lind’s booth. Both were smiling as he approached the booth. 

“Hi Justin,” Lindsay said. 

“Hi,” Mel said. 

“Jusin!!!” Gus cried out. 

“Hey guys,” Justin said to the girls, then he looked over at Gus. “Hey, how’s my Gus doing?” 

“Gwood,” Gus said. Justin laid a kiss on top of the toddler’s head and looked back up at the girls. 

“So, can I get you girls something to eat?” he said, pen in hand. 

“Actually we were hoping we could speak to you. Do you think you could take a short break?” Mel said. 

Justin looked around and saw that there wasn’t that many people in the diner. He figured he could probably take a short one. 

“Hold on,” Justin said, going to ask Debbie if he could take a break. 

“Hey Deb, mind if I take a break?” he said as he approached her. 

“Sure kiddo,” she said. “As long as you’re back in five minutes.” 

Justin headed back over to the booth and Lindsay scooted over so he could sit on her side. Melanie started the conversation. 

“We just wanted to say how truly sorry we were for putting you in the position that we did Justin,” Melanie said. “We never meant to hurt you.” 

“It’s alright. I understand,” Justin said. “I’m over it.” 

“Well, we hoped you still might consider our offer,” Mel said. 

“Mel, I already told you I can’t do what you want me to do. I just can’t,” Justin said. 

“We know,” Lindsay said, “which is why we decided to amend some of the finer points.” 

Justin looked up at Melanie and saw that she had the stack of papers she had wanted Justin to sign in her hand. She tore the papers in half. Justin’s mouth dropped open. 

“Provided that you fulfill your function,” Melanie said, “you will hereby be referred to as, the father.” 

Justin’s eyes started to water and soon tears were running down his cheeks. He reached over and gave Lindsay a hug. He then got up to give Melanie a hug. 

“Thank you guys so much. You have no idea how much this means to me,” Justin said. 

Melanie smiled as she hugged Justin. “Well, you are the one doing us the favor. We’re just sorry that we treated you as badly as we did.” 

“It’s no problem,” Justin said. “I understand what it is you wanted. I promise I’ll give up my rights to Lindsay. I just wanted to be a part of the baby’s life too.” 

“We know,” Lindsay said, “and we think that’s wonderful.” 

“Yeah?” Justin said. 

“Yes,” Melanie confirmed. 

Justin let the girls sit back down and wiped his eyes. “Alright, I should get back to work or Deb will kill me,” he said. “What do you guys want to eat?” 

They placed their order with Justin and he left them to go turn it in. Things were definitely looking up for him. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When 8:00 came around, Justin headed back to his and Daphne’s apartment to get ready for his big night at Babylon. He hoped that he could continue to have a good day by ending the evening on a good note as well. When he got home, he immediately went into the shower. When he got out, Daphne helped him pick out a sexy outfit. Whenever he finished dressing and doing his hair, he went to the living room for Daphne’s examination. 

“So, how do I look?” he said. 

Daphne’s eyes bugged out by just the sight of him. “Wow Justin, you look fantastic!” she said excitedly. 

“Thanks,” Justin said, blushing a little. Daphne always seemed to find the right words to encourage him. 

“If you don’t catch his attention in that, he must be going blind,” Daphne said. 

Justin looked down at his blue, tight, shiny tank top and his tight black pants that perfectly defined his ass as well as show his bulge. He decided he was a walking whore. 

“Well have a good time,” Daphne said. 

“Thanks Daph,” Justin said. “I’m going to head over to the diner for dinner first, so I’ll see you later.” 

“Alright, bye,” Daphne said, watching her best friend go out the door. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was 11:15 by the time Justin stood at the front of Babylon, waiting to get in. Debbie had been so surprised to see Justin back at the diner, especially in the outfit he was wearing. She had hugged him about five times and said “Holy shit sunshine” another five times and by the time he actually ordered, got his food, ate it, and walked to Babylon, it was already past 11:00. Only Debbie could make a short meal take an hour. 

Justin showed the bouncer his ID and the guy immediately let him through, but not without checking him out first. Justin just smiled at the guy, thinking how he was definitely not his type. Justin entered into the glittered craze paradise, looking up and taking the whole scene in. It had been so long since he had been there that he had forgotten what it felt like. Hundreds of sweaty men rubbing up against one another to a steady beat…it was great. He loved to dance and had given it up to be with Ethan. But not anymore. He was going to dance the night away tonight, provided Brian didn’t sweep him up and carry him back to the loft first. He knew that was rather unrealistic, but it couldn’t hurt to keep a positive outlook on things. 

Justin made the rounds around the dance floor. Many people recognized him and whispered comments in their dance partner’s ears. Kinney’s blonde twink was back. But Justin no longer considered himself a twink. Hell, he was almost 20 years old. He was a man now. And even though he could have practically anyone he wanted, he only wanted one thing. Justin noticed Brian or the rest of the gang was not here yet, so he would just dance around until then. 

Justin found a cute brunet who had been eying him since he got in and pulled him over to the dance floor. 

“Hope you want to dance,” Justin said to the guy. 

“Hell yeah,” the guy said, as Justin wrapped his arms around the guy. After the song was over, Justin found the next available guy to dance with and aggressively pulled him over. He continued this cycle with every song until it reached midnight. When midnight came, Justin searched the crowd for the best looking man there. After five minutes of perusing, he found a tall, dark, muscular, guy, who was exactly Brian’s type. After asking him to dance, the blonde quickly took the guy to the center of the dance floor, so that no matter where Brian was, he could see him. He put his arms around the guy and began to sway his hips to the music, doing his best to show off his ass with every move. 

When 12:15 rolled around, Brian, Michael, Ben, Ted and Emmett, made their way inside Babylon. Michael immediately took Ben onto the dance floor and both started to move to the beat of the music. Ted and Emmett looked over at Brian and went with him to the bar. 

“Double Jim Beam,” Brian said to the bartender. Ted and Emmett kept looking out on the dance floor, watching all the couples dancing. 

“Well what you two waiting for?” Brian said, holding his hand in front of him. “Be my guest.” 

Ted and Emmett looked at each other and left Brian to go out on the dance floor. Brian gulped down his drink and ordered a few more. After awhile, he made his way over to the backroom. 

While walking there, Ben and Michael caught up with him. 

“I can’t believe he’s here. It’s been forever since he’s been here,” Mikey said. 

“I know,” Ben shouted back. “Something must have happened with him and his boyfriend.” 

“Who?” Brian asked, wondering what the couple was fussing about. 

Ben and Michael looked at each other and were quiet. After he knew Michael wasn’t going to say anything, Ben made the announcement. 

“Justin’s here,” Ben said. 

“Oh,” Brian said, sounding disinterested. “Where?” 

Ben pointed to the center of the dance floor where Justin and a tall guy were dancing. They were in their own circle, dancing in their own world. People around them were stopping to watch the couple. One was tall, dark and handsome, the other short, pale and cute. They complimented each other perfectly. In order to keep calm, Brian forced himself to look away. 

“Yeah, he and Ethan broke up,” Brian said. 

“They did?” Ben said. 

“Yeah about a week ago,” Brian said. 

“How do you know?” Michael said. 

Brian thought of the best way to say things without getting anyone worked up. “I ran into him the other day at Woody’s and he told me.” 

“You actually talked to him?” Michael said. 

Brian just stared hard at Michael. “Yeah Michael, what did you think I would never speak to him again? C’mon.” 

“It’s just after everything he’s done to you, I figured you two didn’t speak much,” Michael said. 

“We don’t,” Brian said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m averse to speaking with him.” 

“Ok,” Michael said, not wanting to get on his best friends case. “But still, he just broke up with his boyfriend and he’s already here flaunting himself at Babylon? Maybe he did learn too much from you.” 

“Alright that’s enough,” Ben said. “Let’s go dance some more. See ya Brian.” 

Brian waved and thanked Ben silently. Ben was always the peacemaker. 

After the guys had left, Brian forced himself to turn around. He walked around and finally found a spot where he could see everything. Justin was dancing with someone else. It had been a long time since he had seen Justin dance with other guys. Yeah, he occasionally danced with Emmett or Ben, sometimes even Ted, but this was a totally different guy. As Brian watched the two dance, he began to take a good look at the way the blonde was dressed. The boy had outdone himself tonight. His shirt alone made him stand out, all glittery and shiny. And of course, he had made sure it went perfectly with his eyes. His long blonde hair sparkled in the fluorescent lights and his lips looked the color of coral. Then his pants…oh those pants. They showed every inch of his well defined ass and his large cock. Justin looked incredibly sexy, and Brian couldn’t help himself from looking. Justin was usually one to dress down a lot, the one who didn’t care about clothes. But when he dressed up….wow! He was out of this world. 

Brian knew that he should let the blonde be, but he just couldn’t help himself. Debbie had been right. There was a little green eyed monster inside of Brian that couldn’t be stopped. When it came down to Justin, Brian hated seeing others touching him. He had hated seeing him with Ethan and he certainly didn’t like him being with this nameless trick. He knew that his reputation was at stake, since Brian Kinney never went after anyone, but at this point he didn’t care. Making his way through the crowd, Brian began to walk over to Justin. 

It seemed that when people saw the great Brian Kinney approaching the blonde, everyone just stopped dancing and stood back and watched. Everyone knew what had happened to Brian and Justin, and everyone wanted to see the reaction the blonde would have to the older man. As the music was still playing, Brian came up behind the guy Justin was dancing. Since Justin was dancing with his eyes closed, he didn’t see Brian approach. 

“Mind if I cut in?” Brian said to the man. 

The man, knowing who Brian Kinney was, immediately stepped away from Justin and walked over to the side to watch. 

Justin, who had been in another world, was instantly brought back when he heard the sound of Brian’s voice. He opened his eyes and saw his former lover standing in front of him. His smile began to illuminate the entire place. Brian placed his arms around the boy’s waist and almost immediately, the music changed to a slower song. Justin placed his arms around the older man’s neck and looked into his eyes, desperately trying to read what Brian was thinking. As the music continued and the people kept watching, Brian and Justin danced in their own little world. 

“Hope you didn’t mind me cutting in,” Brian said. 

“No, not at all,” Justin said, smiling. “So, what are you doing here Brian?” 

“This is Babylon,” Brian said. “I come here almost every night. I really should be asking you that question.” 

Justin shrugged, “I haven’t danced in forever and I missed it. Ethan didn’t like being out in the scene.” 

“Oh,” Brian said. “So, have you had your fill of the dance floor tonight?” 

“No not really,” Justin said. “I was waiting for someone in particular and he just showed up recently.” 

“Really?” Brian said, smiling. 

“Yeah, he and I kissed for the first time in months about a week ago and I wanted to see how he felt about it,” Justin said. 

“Well that really depends,” Brian said. “Does he know how you feel about it?” 

“No,” Justin said. “I was a little drunk that night, so he probably thought I had just forgotten about it or something. The truth is it’s the one thing I can’t get out of my head. It was so unbelievably hot, that I think about it and him morning, noon, and night.” 

“Is that so?” Brian said, slightly amused. 

“Yeah,” Justin said. “I miss him.” 

“He misses you too,” Brian said. 

“Really?” Justin said, looking into Brian’s hazel eyes. 

“Yes,” Brian said, looking down. “He didn’t know how much until you were gone.” 

“Brian, I would have never left if you would have given me something…any sign to let me know that you wanted me to stay,” Justin said. 

“Justin, you know the words…” Brian said. 

“I know. Words are bullshit. I learned that pretty well from Ethan,” Justin said. 

Brian knew Justin’s rose colored glasses had finally been removed. He was beginning to know the world in its darker side. 

“Words don’t prove anything,” Brian said. “Anyone can say anything they want. Actions prove a whole lot more.” 

“I know,” Justin said. “But you should have told me that you loved me, that you would go on loving me after I was gone.” 

Brian pulled Justin into an embrace and leaned in to whisper into the blonde’s ear. “I wanted to,” he whispered. 

Justin stood back up and looked up at Brian. “Really?” he said. The couple continued to dance. 

Brian nodded. “You know I didn’t do relationships Justin. I never have. But then you came along and everything changed. It took me a lot to give you what I did. I wanted to give you more, but all my old habits and walls kept coming back to haunt me. We started having trouble, and then when I found out you were with the fiddler, I knew the best thing for me to do was to let you go.” 

“Why?” Justin said. 

“Because I knew that I could never give you what you wanted,” Brian said. “But Ethan could, so I let you go because I wanted you to be happy.” 

Justin took a good look at Brian and tears began to form in his eyes. This man, although he never said it, really did love him. 

“I want you Brian,” Justin said. “You’re all I want.” 

Brian looked into Justin’s sparkling eyes and said, “Promise me no more violin music?” 

Justin smiled. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” 

With that statement, Brian and Justin leaned into each other and began to kiss. Everyone around them began to clap and confetti came down from the ceiling to celebrate the reunited couple. As the slower music faded, fast upbeat dance music began and everyone got back out on the dance floor. After a few more numbers, Brian pulled Justin’s arm and led him to the exit. 

“Where are we going?” Justin said. 

“Home,” Brian answered. 

Justin smiled and practically skipped out the exit door and to the corvette. He was going home.


	7. Justin Baby

Justin woke up the next morning with a smile plastered on his face as he felt the arms of his lover surrounding him. As he opened his eyes, he looked over his shoulder to see Brian’s slumbering form. He couldn’t believe he was really here, back at the loft. He was amazed that everything had gone so well last night. He didn’t expect Brian to be so agreeable to what he wanted. He knew that Brian probably still had unresolved feelings about him leaving him for Ethan, and he knew that they would have to talk about it. Last night had simply been the beginning of a long process. 

Brian had told him last night on the drive home that he wanted the night to be just about them, and that they would talk about the details later. Justin couldn’t believe Brian had even said they were going to have a conversation about the details later. The Brian he had always known hated serious conversations, but Justin realized that Brian must have done his fair share of maturing as well over the past six months. He couldn’t wait to experience life with the *new* Brian Kinney. 

As Justin laid in bed thinking, Brian awoke beside him. 

“Hey,” Brian said groggily. 

“Hey,” Justin said, turning around to face his lover. “Did you sleep well?” 

Brian nodded. “Probably because you almost wore me out again.” 

“This is coming from the mouth of the great Brian Kinney?” Justin asked. “You’ve stayed up all night fucking before.” 

“Not since you left,” Brian commented. 

Justin looked into Brian’s eyes and raised his right hand to Brian’s cheek. “Why?” 

“There was no point,” Brian admitted. “And anyway it….it just wasn’t the same.” 

“Brian,” Justin said softly, knowing the older man was starting to share his heart with him. 

Brian laughed, feeling a little foolish about sharing his feelings, but continued on. “After you left, whenever I fucked someone, I pretended they were you. I pictured your face, your blonde hair, your sexy ass…I am getting too pathetic?” 

“No,” Justin replied seriously. “Please, continue.” 

Brian took a deep breath and started again. “I just thought that I would never get to hold you or kiss you ever again, since you were with the fiddler. I began to realize what a big mistake I had made by letting you go.” 

Justin smiled up at Brian. He was about to reply back when he heard his cell phone ringing in the living room. Justin pulled on his underwear. 

“Sorry,” Justin said to Brian. “I’ll be back.” 

Justin quickly got up and went to his cell phone. Before answering, he checked the caller ID and wasn’t surprised by the name that appeared. 

“Hi Daph,” Justin said. 

“Hey Justin,” Daphne said happily. “So can I assume everything went well last night since you didn’t come home?” 

Justin looked over into the bedroom and noticed Brian had left, probably going into the bathroom. He smiled and said, “I guess you could assume that.” 

“Well that’s great,” Daphne exclaimed. “I guess this means I will be getting my kiss soon.” 

“Hold on girl,” Justin said. “We still haven’t worked out all the details.” 

“What is there to work out?” Daphne asked. 

“We have only stated that we want to be together,” Justin whispered. “I’m not sure of anything else.” 

Daphne sighed and rolled her eyes. “You had me worried there for a minute. This is Brian we are talking about. You love him and he obviously loves you. I’m sure things can go back to the way they used to be before Ethan came into the picture.” 

“Whoa, that is where you’re wrong Daph,” he whispered, still looking around to make sure Brian wasn’t within earshot. “Things cannot go back to the way they used to be. Things have to change this time around. But…I think they will because he’s seemed to have done a lot of deep thinking and maturing since I left. So don’t worry.” 

“Alright, you just better tell me later how it goes,” she said. 

“I will. I gotta go. Bye,” he said. 

“Bye,” Daphne said. 

Justin pushed the end button and set it back down on the coffee table. Going back into the bedroom, he found Brian laying back on the bed with a sheet pulled up over him, allowing his erect cock to make a tent. 

“Someone’s horny,” Justin said, jumping onto the bed. 

“When am not?” Brian laughed. 

Justin laughed along with him. “Well, that’s for sure. You have the endurance of a teenager.” 

“Well I’d have to in order to keep up with you,” Brian said. “You were all over the place last night.” 

Justin sighed. “Last night was incredible. I haven’t had sex like that since…”

Brian turned Justin’s head to where he could look at him right in the eye. “Since when Justin?” 

“Since the last time I was with you,” Justin finished sheepishly. 

Brian smiled genuinely. “Well… I guess that calls for an encore performance.” 

“Really?” Justin grinned. 

“Yeah,” Brian replied. “Roll over.” 

Justin did as he was told and rolled over onto his stomach. Brian kneeled down over Justin and went over to the top of his back. Taking his tongue, Brian licked Justin from the top of his neck all the way down to his perfectly shaped bubble butt. Brian’s tongue went all the way down Justin’s ass to the crack, where he started making circles around the first muscle ring. 

“Ohh Briiii,” Justin moaned. 

Brian’s tongue continued to work the area around the first ring of muscle until he finally decided to go in. Brian continued to rim Justin for quite sometime until Justin couldn’t take it any more. 

“Ohhhhh Briiiian, fuck me!!!” Justin shouted, trying to control his orgasm. 

“Are you sure?” Brian teased. 

“YES! FUCK ME!” Justin screamed. 

Brian laughed. “Ok sunshine, roll over again for me.” 

Justin obeyed the command and looked up at the older man as he went for the tube of KY and a condom on the nightstand. Brian quickly removed the contraceptive and placed it on his fully erect cock as he looked into Justin’s eyes. Lust and love filled the blue orbs as Brian placed his fingers and some lube at Justin’s hole. Brian inserted one and then two fingers to open the boy up as much as possible before placing his full 9 ½ inches at the first ring of muscle. 

As Justin watched his older lover, his cock began to harden even more with anticipation. Brian always did every move carefully and diligently with Justin, wanting the boy to experience the joy of lovemaking wholeheartedly every single time. As soon as Brian felt that Justin was ready, he slipped his cock into Justin’s hole. 

“Ohhhh Briiiii,” Justin panted, loving the feeling of penetration. 

“Ohhh Justinnnn, you’rrrre soooo fuckin tighttt,” Brian replied back. 

As Brian continued to thrust back and forth, Justin began to equally match his every move so that the two became one entity. 

As the two were fucking, Justin’s cell phone began to ring again. 

“FUCK,” Brian screeched, who in the HELL could that BE?” 

“WHO fucking cares?” Justin shouted. “Whoever the hell it is can wait!!” 

Satisfied with the answer, Brian continued to ride Justin aggressively. 

“Oh, fuck yeah Jus!” Brian shouted, feeling his orgasm building. 

“Brrrriiiaannn yeah,” Justin moaned. “This is fucking great…I’m going to cum.” 

“You’re going to cum?” Brian asked. “Cum sunshine…cum for me!” 

“Yeah… Bri… I’m… going… to…..OHHH YEAHHH,” Justin screamed as he orgasmed, his cum exploding from his cock and hitting him in the chest. 

“FUCK….AHHH,” Brian yelled as he felt Justin’s muscles clamp down on his cock, causing his own orgasm to come and his cum to spill into the condom. 

“Oh yeah!” Brian sighed as he fell on top of Justin. He stayed there for a minute, enjoying the euphoric feeling before returning to his side of the bed. 

“That was fucking hot,” Brian stated. Looking over at Justin, his statement was returned with one of Justin’s trademark sunshine smile. 

Justin got a towel off of his old nightstand and wiped his stomach of his dried cum. He then curled up next to Brian and the two fell back to sleep. 

It would be another hour before the two finally got out of bed again. Brian got up and headed into the bathroom, Justin tagging along behind him. After both of them relieved themselves, Brian went over and started the shower. Checking the water to make sure it wasn’t too hot; Brian took Justin’s hand and led him inside. Putting the boy in front of him, he took the bar of soap and carefully washed Justin’s entire body, giving special attention to some of his more important features. 

Justin enjoyed it as his older lover washed him thoroughly. He loved the feeling of Brian’s hands touching his body, rubbing him gently. As Brian applied the shampoo into his hair, he felt his lover begin to tenderly massage his scalp. After massaging for about five minutes, he put some shampoo into his own hair as Justin began to rinse his out. 

“You know I really like your hair,” Brian said tenderly. 

“My hair? What that I’m a blonde?” Justin questioned. 

“Well yeah, I’ve always liked that you’re a blonde…but I meant I like the length of your hair. It’s long enough to hold on to now,” Brian said. 

“Yeah well, I decided I wanted a change,” Justin said. “I wanted to look older, more mature.” 

“It worked,” Brian said, shutting off the shower. Both of them got out and grabbed a towel and began to rub themselves dry. Wrapping a towel around himself, Justin walked over to the sink and combed his hair. 

“You still have that supply of toothbrushes?” Justin asked. 

Brian went over to the cabinet and pulled out a toothbrush, handing it to Justin. 

“Thanks,” Justin replied. “I guess I’ll have to put those clothes back on that I wore last night.” 

Brian stopped right in the middle of shaving and walked out of the bathroom. About a minute later, he came back in with a white box. 

“Here,” Brian said, handing the box to Justin. 

“What is it?” Justin asked. 

“Open it and find out,” Brian replied. 

Justin opened the top and underneath the tissue paper laid a blue silk robe. The color matched that of Justin’s eyes. 

“Bri,” Justin said, amazed at the gift. “What’s this for?” 

“It’s something I bought a while back…consider it an early birthday present,” Brian said. 

“Wow Brian…” Justin whispered. “Did you buy this before…we…”

“Yeah,” Brian said. “I know how much you always liked my navy one and I figured you needed something to wear around in the middle of the night instead of wrapping the sheet around you like you always did, so I bought it right after I came back from Chicago. I planned to give it to you after the Rage party but…”

“I know,” Justin said, going over to hug Brian. “Thank you.” 

Brian and Justin embraced for a while, feelings of hurt still overcoming the both of them. 

“I’m really sorry Brian,” Justin said. “I never meant to hurt you.” 

“I know,” Brian said. “It’s my fault too.” 

Justin pulled back and looked up into the older man’s eyes, noticing tears glistening within them. 

“I love you Brian,” Justin whispered. “And you don’t have to say it back, because I know you do love me. You always have.” 

Brian smiled and bent over to kiss Justin’s luscious lips. Justin let Brian’s tongue separate his lips and slowly massage his tongue with his. Finishing the kiss out with a small peck on the lips, Justin took the robe out of the box and wrapped it around his body. 

“So how do I look?” he said. 

Brian looked over from the sink he had just walked to and sighed. “Like a sapphire.” 

Justin smiled and went over into the bedroom to place the box back down on the bed. As he was there, he heard his cell phone beep and remembered that someone had called him. 

Noticing that it was almost 1:00, Justin walked over to his cell phone and checked to see who the missed call was from. When he found out, he remembered he had forgotten to tell Brian the news. 

“Hey Bri, that was Mel and Linds who called earlier,” Justin shouted towards the bathroom. 

“Ah those damn munchers,” Brian grunted. “Of course they would be the one’s to call while we’re fucking. They don’t know what an orgasm is anyway.” 

Justin laughed at Brian’s sarcasm. “They came into the diner yesterday and said they had changed their minds about the whole donor ordeal.” 

Brian smiled smugly since Justin couldn’t see him. “Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Justin said. “They said they thought it over and decided that they wanted me to be the father, not just the donor. Mel even tore up her legal papers. As long as I sign over my parental rights to Lindsay before the baby is born, I will get to have all the privileges of being a father.” 

“Well, I guess everything worked out for you,” Brian replied, still smiling. 

Justin walked into the bathroom. “Yeah, I’m just wondering what made them change their minds. I mean, they seemed so adamant the other day.” 

“They’re lesbians,” Brian claimed, “If you think heterosexual women change their minds, try multiplying it by two.” 

“I guess,” Justin said. “Well, let me call them back and see what they wanted.” 

Justin hit the send key and waited while the telephone rang. On the fourth ring, Melanie picked up the phone. 

“Hello,” Mel answered. 

“Hey Mel, its Justin,” he said. “I noticed you called earlier.” 

“Justin, hey” Melanie said. “Yeah we did call. Did we catch you at a bad time?” 

“Well…” Justin said, looking up at Brian. “I was pretty…laid up when you called.” 

Brian laughed as he turned to leave the bathroom and put his own robe on. 

“Oh, well, we were just going to ask you when the last time you were tested was,” Mel replied. 

“Tested? You mean for HIV?” Justin questioned curiously. 

“Well, that among other things,” Mel said. “We need to know because before you can give me your sample, we have to make sure you’re clear of any diseases.” 

“Oh sure,” Justin said, understanding why now. “I get checked every six months. I just got tested again about three weeks ago and they said I was fine.” 

“That sounds pretty good to me,” Mel said. “You haven’t been with many people since then, have you? I mean, you and Ethan were monogamous right?” 

“Well, yeah, I was,” Justin said. “Since him, I’ve only fucked one other person. I always use condoms though.” 

“Well, I know you’re always safe and since you just got your last test back, there is no need to have you go get another. The other thing we wanted to ask you is when you would be able to come with us to the clinic,” Mel asked. 

“Oh, are you getting this done professionally?” Justin asked. 

Mel replied, “No. Linds and I both just feel that going into a clinic to…do…your…job would be better than you doing it at home. The facility is clean and…”

“I think I understand Mel,” Justin answered. “Well, this Thursday is a good day for me because my prof cancelled my afternoon class. I’m free after 12:30.” 

“Thursday sounds good,” Melanie said. “Is 2:00 ok?” 

“Sounds good to me,” Justin said. 

“Alright, we’ll see you on Thursday,” she said. 

“Yeah ok…oh wait Mel,” he said. 

“What?” she asked. 

“Do I need to bring anything with me?” Justin asked timidly. 

Melanie laughed. “As long as your dick comes with you, I think that’s all you’ll need.” 

Justin smiled. “Alright, see ya Thursday.” 

“Bye,” she said. 

“Bye,” he said, laying the phone back down on the coffee table. Looking around he saw that Brian had made his way into the kitchen and had made coffee and laid out some bagels. Pouring himself a cup of coffee and taking a bagel, he went back to the living room and sat down. Brian joined him shortly. 

“So,” Brian said. “What did the munchers want?” 

“They just wanted to know when the last time I was tested was and what day I could go to the clinic with them,” Justin said. 

“Clinic?” Brian asked. “What, there not using the good ole turkey baster again?” 

“That’s what I asked,” Justin replied. “They thought it just might be better if everything was done in a clean environment.” 

“Linds must have told Mel where I jerked off at,” Brian laughed. “I bet she was pissed.” 

“Why?” Justin asked. “Where did you do it at?” 

“In the back room of Babylon,” Brian admitted. 

“No! You didn’t…did you?” Justin said. 

“Yeah,” Brian said, “I whipped it up right there, while I was watching these two men go down on each other.” 

“Eww Brian…that’s disgusting,” Justin said. “You created the batter that eventually helped to formulate Gus at a sex club?” 

“Well…yeah…,” Brian said. “I guess now that you mention it, it is pretty repulsive. If I could do it over again, I guess I would choose a place a little cleaner.” 

“Yeah,” Justin said. “No wonder Mel wants me to do it at a clinic.” 

“That is not going to be an easy task,” Brian said. “All you’re going to have at your disposal is a plastic cup, four white walls, and a cummed stained copy of Hustler.” 

Justin, who was finishing his bagel, looked over to Brian surprised. “Are you serious?” 

“Uh-huh,” Brian said. “What did you think; they would have a copy of Playgirl? This is a clinic where men usually jerk off to help get their wives pregnant. Most men want to look at snatch.” 

Uhhh,” Justin said in disgust. “How am I going to do this?” 

“I don’t know,” Brian said. “You might want to bring someone with you to help you….you know…get it up.” 

Justin illuminated the room with his smile. “Are you saying you’d go with me?” he asked excitedly. 

“Well…only if you want me…” Brian said. 

Justin placed his dishes down and went over and jumped into Brian’s lap, smothering him with kisses. “Oh my God, yes I want you to come with me!!! Brian, you are the best!!” 

Brian shrugged, but smiled at Justin. He was glad that Justin wanted him there. He knew that day would be an exciting day for Justin and he wanted to enjoy the day with him. 

Justin continued to kiss Brian all over until a thought came over him. “What are we going to tell Mel and Linds?” 

“Hmmm…” Brian said. “Good point. I guess that’s why we need to talk.” 

“Alright,” Justin said, removing himself from Brian’s lap and going over to sit down next to him. 

“The guys already know what happened because they were there last night at Babylon,” Brian said. “Mikey already left me five messages asking me if what he saw meant the obvious.” 

“That’s Michael for you,” Justin muttered. 

Brian raised his eyebrows and continued. “I haven’t called him back yet because I don’t know what to tell him….about us.” 

“What do you want to be able to tell him Brian?” Justin asked. 

Brian ran his hands through his hair, thinking about how he wanted to word his feelings to Justin. 

“I’d like to be able to tell them that we are back together,” Brian replied. 

“Ok,” Justin nodded. “I can agree with that.” 

Brian nodded. 

“What kind of relationship are we going to be in?” Justin asked. 

Brian looked over at him, confusion written all over his face. “What do you mean?” 

“Well,” Justin said, “the last time we were in an open relationship with only a few rules to follow. I definitely think we should rethink that aspect.” 

Brian nodded again, afraid to utter his next words, in fear of what the blonde would say. “Justin, I have told you how I feel about fucking…”

“I know Bri,” Justin said. “They don’t mean anything to you.” 

“I’ll try to cut down, but I can’t promise…”

“I know Brian,” Justin interjected. “I know who you are and it really doesn’t bother me anymore. I just have one request.” 

“What?” Brian said softly. 

“Just don’t do it in front of me,” Justin replied. 

Brian nodded. “Ok.” 

Justin smiled, knowing that was a big step for Brian to make. He was happy with that decision. 

“What about our living situation?” Brian said. 

Justin looked over at Brian, already prepared with that answer. “If you mean about me moving back in here, I think we should wait for a while. I mean, I’ll spend the night and I’ll even bring some of my stuff back over here, but I think for now I should maintain my residence over at Daphne’s. In two or three months we can see how everything is and make a decision then. Is that alright?” 

Brian nodded and smiled. “You are wise beyond your years, Justin.” 

“Tell me something I didn’t know,” Justin teased. 

“Well,” Brian said playfully, moving over closer to Justin, “I don’t think you know that I am about to sweep you off your feet, bring you back to bed, and fuck your brains out.” 

“Please,” Justin said, laying backwards into Brian’s lap, “have your way with me.” 

“If you say so,” Brian said while picking up Justin and carrying him over to the bed. 

The rest of the day was spent staying in the loft, catching up on all the sex they hadn’t had in the last six months. Between rounds, the two ate and talked, enjoying each other’s company. At about 7:00, Michael called back and Brian decided to finally answer it. 

“Hey Mikey,” Brian said. 

“Brian, where have you been?” Michael said. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day.” 

“I know,” Brian said, looking over at his young lover in his bed, eagerly waiting for his return. “I’ve been busy.” 

“Oh, too busy for your best friend?” Michael said. 

“You know Mikey,” Brian said, “there comes a time in a mans life when he realizes that he must put things of his childhood away and take on the responsibilities of being an adult.” 

“God Brian, are you high? You don’t sound like yourself,” Michael said. 

“No actually, I’m not,” Brian said. “But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my life recently.” 

“Oh really? Does this happen to have something to do with the little show you put on at Babylon last night?” Michael asked. 

“Yes,” Brian said. “And in fact, I have some news to tell you.” 

“What?” Michael snapped. 

“Justin and I are back together,” Brian stated, a smile emerging from his face. 

“I figured as much,” Michael said reluctantly. 

“Mikey, can’t you for once be happy for me?” Brian asked. “After all, you have the professor. Don’t I deserve to have someone too?” 

Michael sighed. “Of course you do Brian. It’s just it isn’t like you to have a boyfriend. You never wanted one before. And you even told me a few weeks ago yourself that you never had a boyfriend. What happened to you in the last month to make you change your mind?” 

Brian looked over again at Justin, noticing the ever present smile that came from the blonde. “I grew up Mikey. You raised me our entire lives and for that, I will always be eternally grateful. But I think I’m ready to cut the strings and go out into the world alone.” 

Michael was silent, analyzing the words Brian had just said. 

“Michael, you will always be my best friend,” Brian continued, “just as Justin will always be a part of my life, hopefully as a lover. I hope you can live with that.” 

Michael replied, “I just don’t want to see you hurt Brian, especially after what that little fucker did…”

“That’s my business Mikey,” Brian stated. “And if I can forgive him for that and put it aside, then you should be able to do so as well. Talk to you later Mikey.” 

Brian hung up the phone and made his way back to his bed, Justin sprawled out naked waiting for him. 

“How did it go?” Justin asked. 

“Oh you know Mikey…” Brian replied. “He’s a little bent out of shape, but he’ll get over it. He’s just a little overprotective at times.” 

“At times?” Justin asked. “How about all the time?” 

“Oh c’mon, he’s not that bad,” Brian stated. “He has the professor to keep him busy. And the comic. How’s Rage issue 2 coming along?” 

“I gave him a few ideas and he liked them,” Justin said. “We need to get together to brainstorm soon.” 

“Well, you can use the loft if you need a place to work,” Brian offered. “I know Mikey’s place is small and I’m sure Daphne’s isn’t much bigger.” 

Justin placed his arms around his older lover and gave him a kiss. “Thanks. But what about what happened before when we worked here? Are you sure we wouldn’t be in your way?” 

“No. I’m not as shallow as I once was,” Brian admitted. 

“What about us ending up in your bed?” he asked. 

Brian rolled over to lay on top of Justin, his body covering every inch of the blonde’s. 

“The only person you should ever be with in my bed is me,” Brian said, covering Justin’s lips with his own. 

“I can agree to that,” Justin said, letting Brian’s mouth capture his as his mind drifted away to a happier place.


End file.
